The worst quarter ever for Singapore

Signs of Prolonged Pain in Singapore Singapore's second-quarter GDP contracted a record 42.9% annualized, dragged down by construction, retail and tourism. The latest data suggests that the economy which is already in a technical recession, is nowhere close to a recovery. The government says: * Full-year GDP to shrink 5 to 7% * Expect recurring waves of infection and disruption * The outlook remains uncertain and companies are bracing for further job cuts * Monetary policy response remains appropriate. The MAS last took unprecedented easing in late March and is scheduled to decide on policy again in October. Keep up with developments on Bloomberg LP #economy #covid19 #singapore #jobs

Latest : Economic Indicators of Singapore for Q2 2020...amidst two months of circuit breaker and lockdowns globally. #covid19 #unemployment #jobs #economy #layoffs #singapore #economicforecast

TSMP decided in May to cut our partners' pay by 25% as a gesture of solidarity with our clients who are facing tough economic conditions. We also froze partners' distributions - for us, the lion's share of partners' remuneration - which means that past years' profits still sit in the company as cash to meet upcoming cash flow needs. The Government's generous job support packages have helped cushion the blow from 2 months of lockdown and the business slowdown but we are fooling ourselves if we think that the worst has happened. I think 2021 is when the rubber really hits the road. The 6 month moratorium on legal action will end in September this year, and jobs support cash would have been spent. Already mass layoffs are being announced. The real storm is still to come, and while we didn't implement across the board pay cuts, I can understand why some large firms are preemptively doing it.

While earlier on, many law firms froze hiring and increments to cope with the recession, many are now taking more extensive belt-tightening measures, such as cutting pay across the board. Dentons Rodyk and Big Four firm WongPartnership LLP are among the largest law firms here that have announced firm-wide wage cuts, with both doing so by stripping out lawyers' "front-loaded" bonuses.

Spore’s revised 2Q GDP estimates are due at 8am tomorrow and I’m expecting a downgrade to -13.2% yoy. No change to my full year growth forecast of -5.5% for now. But waiting to see what the reconvened National Wage Council and the new National Jobs Council recommends for the labour market.

All recent articles to reskill the potential new jobless tend to focus on the digital skills because of the digital revolution taking place across all industries, yet one sector that Singapore has an edge over the rest, particularly in Asia is the green sector, which is also gaining more prominence since the Paris Agreement in 2015. Rather than bank everything on the far sexier tech and digital sector in the reskilling initiatives, it might be relevant and critical to also build up expertise, esp. local talents in this green area, which has implications across all industries as well.