‘Jobs will disappear’ as coronavirus speeds up digital disruption, Singapore PM says in Labour Day speech

Workers and bosses must both make sacrifices to save businesses, but some sectors will die completely due to digitalisation, says PM Lee Hsien Loong

Sunrise industries include biotech, food production and delivery, medical services and IT

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Significant structural changes to Singapore’s economy are likely, says Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:12pm, 30 Apr 2020Updated: 1:43pm, 1 May 2020

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday said the city state must brace itself for lasting structural changes to its service-oriented economy in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, with some jobs likely to go extinct due to the rise of remote work and digitalisation.

In the short term, employers and employees must meet halfway to stem bloodletting in the labour market as Singapore “feels the full brunt” of the ongoing global economic slowdown, Lee said in his annual Labour Day address.

The annual speech – a marquee political event in the country – for the first time in six decades was delivered via a live-stream.

It is tradition for the prime minister to address the country’s labour movement on May 1 in a live rally organised by the National Trades Union Congress, an umbrella body affiliated with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

In his 16-minute address, Lee said while the government had so far spent some S$60 billion (US$42.5 billion) to “save jobs, reduce costs for companies and tide Singaporeans over this crisis”, many workers were likely to still see pay cuts.

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