Singapore’s Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) Survey Findings
- All Industries - | 06 Jul 2021
Singapore’s Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) Survey Findings
(FY21 Q1: May 2021)
On 14 May 2021, the Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) announced Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) to minimize transmission of the COVID-19 virus as several clusters of COVID-19 infections had emerged, coupled with a pattern of local unlinked community cases.
The measures took effect from May 16 to June 13, 2021. Some of the tightened measures included:
- No dining-in at any Food and Beverage (F&B) establishments.
- Households could only receive up to two unique visitors a day.
- Work-from-home was the default at workplaces.
- Marriage solemnisations were allowed up to 50 attendees without pre-event testing (PET) and 100 attendees with PET. Wedding receptions were not allowed.
- Funerals, including burial or cremation, were allowed a total of 20 people or fewer.
- Strenuous individual and group indoor sports and activities were not allowed.
Alongside this announcement, economic and industry sentiments among companies worsened, and a grim business outlook is expected to extend into the months ahead. IndSights Research conducted a survey during Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) to find out ground sentiments from over 600 business leaders.
Economic and industry outlook
The Phase 2 Heightened Alert announcement adversely affected companies’ perceptions of Singapore’s economy, where sentiments rating it as “Good” fell from 24%, in the period of Apr to May 2021 from the Business Sentiment Survey (BSS), to 16%.
READ ALSO: Business Sentiments Survey FY21 Q1 findings
Generally, companies had a poorer view of their industry’s situation compared to Singapore’s economy. During Phase 2 (HA), more perceived their industry situation to be poor (51%), rather than average (34%).
We further saw that the three sectors which were most pessimistic regarding both the economic and industry situation were the Food Services, Logistics and Land Transport sectors.
READ ALSO: Singapore Wholesale Trade industry weathers pandemic storm
Views of the stricter measures and reopening of Singapore’s economy
Seventy-seven percent of the companies were satisfied that the stricter measures were adequate. While 9 in 10 companies were affected by the measures, the majority were coping well and half of the companies polled agreed that the pace of reopening should change according to the COVID-19 situation.
Fifty-two percent of companies responded that they were prepared to handle the disruptions. However, perhaps unsurprisingly, we saw that the Food Services industry was relatively less prepared to handle the disruptions caused by the stricter measures, compared to other sectors.
What’s next: Heightened Alert Phase 3 new measures
Jobs Support Scheme (JSS)
50% JSS support extended by three weeks starting 21 June 2021 for affected sectors, before tapering to 10% for another 2 weeks.
Property Rental Support
Qualifying SME tenants will receive half a month of rental relief cash pay-out by IRAS and one month of rental relief on government-owned commercial properties.
Relocation Services
More than 5 workers from a moving company are allowed to enter a residence, to support the relocation of furniture and belongings from the old to the new residential address.
F&B
Qualifying SME tenants will receive half a month of rental relief cash pay-out by IRAS and one month of rental relief on government-owned commercial properties.
Indoor Mask-off Sports/Exercise
Gyms and fitness studios may resume indoor mask-off sports/ exercise activities in group sizes of up to 2 persons, and in classes of up to 30 persons including the instructor.
About the study
Our study was conducted in May 2021 with 626 business leaders from various industries: Environmental services, Food services, Logistics, Retail, ICT, Security, Wholesale trade, Real Estate, Air Transport, Land Transport, Sea Transport, Hotels, Construction and Financial Services.
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Click here for full abridged version of the findings.