Freelancers Suffer as COVID-19 Hits Singapore

PHOTO CREDIT | TallyPress.com

Singapore freelancers faced heavy financial losses during the Covid-19 pandemic, Tan Jia Hao and Shermaine Chua discusses the challenges for those who are unregistered and do not qualify for any government support scheme.

The Coronavirus hit Singapore on Jan 23, 2020, and we now have 54,555 cases to date. While Singapore sees low community cases, the jobs of Singaporeans are not spared.

Big players like Singapore Airlines have reduced their staff's salary by 10 per cent while other companies resort to retrenchment.

With government policies in place to protect the majority of the Singaporean workforce, it seems that nobody is left unprotected. However, there is still a minority that is suffering in the pandemic with little to no help, freelancers who stop getting jobs as a whole.

While there are schemes put out to protect freelancers who registered themselves as the sole proprietor of their own company, not many freelancers actually registered themselves.

"Clients from all sectors have definitely been affected and have taken a hit from the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, many have cut back on their budgets and have put a pause in order to scale back on their marketing," said Ms Jasmine How, a freelance Photographer in her mid-thirties.

Following the government's announcement of stricter safe distancing measures forcing most workplaces to close and follow a work from home arrangement, weddings are not spared either. Weddings are limited to 10 people as of the date of writing this article.

All large scale events are cancelled due to worries of low attendance. Freelancers working for such events are left hanging, not knowing when things would go back to normal.

No event or wedding is complete without a master of ceremonies, better known as emcees, who are usually freelancers. Both of the biggest money-making jobs for emcees are cancelled.

"It's way easier in the past cause it was through both "word-of-mouth" and online as well

I picked up emceeing when I was studying and started to advertise my skills online with the experience I gained." Said Ms Thatchaini, when asked how the situation was like before the COVID-19 restrictions were implemented.

With the majority of event freelance workers being students, most of these students are not qualified for any support schemes issued by the government.

PHOTO CREDIT | TallyPress.com

"To get by this pandemic I have looked for a more stable part-time job at Koi even though they don't pay as well as event jobs, but at least it's a source of stable income," said Ms Lee Wan Wen, a student in Nan Yang Polytechnic who regularly does event jobs to supplement her allowance.

While some try to find stable part-time jobs Jase Sng who is a musician, decided to start his own business, selling sourdough bread!

"Being in food service since early 2019 (purely as a serious endeavour) has seen me through the dip in the performing industry. I have also been working on getting my bread baking to a standard suitable for retail," he said. He is now selling his bread through his personal Instagram page.

Ms Maria Fung, a freelance graphic designer and writer, had a fall of about 50 per cent in her income during the COVID-19 period since less business was coming in.

"Big clients who have approached me are asking for price reductions on services they could once afford, and some of my existing projects have halted as my clients' businesses have been hit hard by the crisis," she said.

"Don't put all your eggs into one basket, which is why I took up writing apart from graphic design, and it's important to remain open to other opportunities, even if they are not ideal," she advised. "However, the good news is that bad times are not forever. What is forever is a resilient mind."

The pandemic has led to severe global economic disruption. During the economic downturn, most companies would cut their advertising, marketing, promotional, and media budgets. Therefore, creative freelancers like designers struggled from the sudden cancellations and postponement of projects.

Should anyone need any assistance, there is an eligibility checker on Support Go Where, a government-led initiative to help you filter through the many government support grants that you may be eligible for and apply directly on the website. For more information, please visit https://www.supportgowhere.gov.sg/.