Retrenchment is one of the most difficult challenges a worker can face. Beyond the immediate financial strain, losing a job often brings uncertainty about the future and anxiety about securing new employment. In Singapore, the government has traditionally focused on reskilling and redeployment rather than direct financial support. But the introduction of the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme in 2025 became Singapore’s first structured unemployment benefit.
Read Also: Guide To Understanding The SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support Scheme
However, while addressing several Parliamentary Questions earlier this month, the Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng revealed that there were other forms of financial support for workers who had lost their jobs, in addition to the newly introduced SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme.
Short-Term Relief Fund
For example, in response to a question by MP Gerald Giam, Dr Tan mentioned how, in genuine cases where employers are unable to pay salaries owed due to business failure, “the Short-Term Relief Fund (STRF) is available to provide financial assistance to eligible local lower income workers.”
The STRF is managed by the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM), which started operations in April 2017.
Dr Tan also revealed that, “Between 2023 to 2025, about $600,000 was disbursed from the STRF to 260 workers who did not receive their salaries due to corporate liquidation.”
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), 94% of the salary claims lodged were fully recovered. 6 their salaries at TADM and Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT).
About 4% recovered their salaries partially through settlement payments from security bond insurers and main contractors or were assisted through financial assistance for lower-wage workers under Short-Term Relief Fund (STRF) or Migrant Workers’ Assistance Fund (MWAF).
Dr Tan reiterated that “We have measures in place to support employees and ensure responsible business practices. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) investigates and takes action against employers who breach employment legislation when winding up, including those who wilfully do not pay salaries despite having the means to do so.”
Financial Assistance From Social Service Office (SSO) and Migrant Workers’ Centre
When responding to another Parliamentary Question by MP He Ting Ru, Dr Tan revealed that “The Government and tripartite partners have various schemes in place to provide financial support to workers who have lost their jobs, including as a result of their company winding up. These schemes are means-tested and subject to eligibility criteria to ensure accountability and to direct limited public resources to those who need them most.”
Ms He was asking if the Ministry of Manpower would consider “a statutory fund to provide financial support without means testing to workers of all nationalities during periods of corporate liquidations and bankruptcies.”
In his response, Dr Tan pointed out that “Lower-income households who require financial assistance to meet basic needs may also approach their Social Service Office. Foreign workers may approach the Migrant Workers’ Centre set up by the tripartite partners for financial assistance.”
Social Service Offices, or SSOs, are run by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). They provide financial and social support to individuals and families in need with various assistance schemes and community resources.
The Migrant Workers’ Centre was set up in 2009 and is a bipartite initiative of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).
