In a show of solidarity, the bank will return tens of millions in Jobs Support Scheme funding, which was provided to offset and protect local employees' wages, to the government.
«We feel it is the right time to signal that companies like Citi are here for the long term, and that the well-being of the larger community in Singapore matters to us,» Amol Gupte, Citi Asean head and Singapore CEO, said in an internal memo on Thursday seen by finews.asia.
«Giving back the JSS funding means that individuals, families and companies who have a far greater need for assistance can benefit from it,» Gupte said.
According to the memo, some 80 percent of the bank's total headcount are Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents. The bank said it is also providing a special compensation to employees who may experience economic hardship.
Government Support for Local Employees
The JSS was announced in Singapore's Budget 2020 to help enterprises retain their local employees amid economic uncertainty. The scheme was further enhanced in the subsequent «Resilience» and «Solidarity» budgets.
Under the JSS, the government automatically pays out between 25 percent to 75 percent of the first S$4,600 of gross monthly wages paid to each local employee in a nine-month period through cash subsidies. The level of support each employer receives depends on the sector in which the employer operates. Wage support for the months of April and May 2020 is 75 percent for all firms, regardless of sector.
More than S$20 billion, which will go to more than 140,000 employers, has been set aside under the scheme to help cover the wages of over 1.9 million local employees.
