SINGAPORE – More than 7,200 mid-career local job seekers have been placed into company attachments from the launch of the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme (SGUP) in 2020 to January this year, said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng on Monday (April 4).
These attachments were introduced under the programme in July 2020 to help mid-career job seekers gain work experience, skills and networks while preparing for more permanent jobs amid a weak labour market then.
Dr Tan told Parliament that the programme remains useful for employers and job seekers who may face greater challenges in making a career switch.
The Government announced during Budget 2022 that the programme will be made permanent to support mature mid-career job seekers aged 40 and above.
This comes even as two other national schemes – the SGUnited Skills and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training programmes – expired on March 31.
They were replaced by a new scheme, the SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme, which offers highly subsidised, industry-oriented training courses to help mid-career workers secure jobs in sectors with good hiring opportunities.
Dr Tan was responding to questions by Mr Ang Wei Neng (West Coast GRC) about SGUP’s total applicants, how many successfully applied and later found permanent jobs, and their training allowances.
Trainees under the programme usually receive a monthly training allowance of between $1,600 and $3,800, determined by their host organisation and of which up to 90 per cent is funded by the Government.
The average and median allowances are both around $2,600.
More than 20,800 local workers applied for SGUP positions as at January.
“SGUP applicants do not just make one application. Instead, they usually make multiple job and attachment applications and they choose the best offer that they receive.”
The number of applicants eventually helped was about 7,200 said Dr Tan, in response to a supplementary question by Mr Ang.
“The labour market started showing signs of recovery towards the end of 2020, with the resident unemployment rate improving steadily since 3Q 2020, and resident employment rising in 2020 and even more quickly in 2021,” he added.
It was, therefore, not surprising that the majority of SGUP openings were not filled, said Dr Tan, who hailed it as “a positive sign”.
He added that Workforce Singapore (WSG) monitors the number of trainees who found a job within six months after completing or otherwise exiting the programme.
More than 3,400 trainees completed or exited their attachments as at last November. Among this group, about 77 per cent or 2,600 workers were employed.
MOM said that as at January, another 1,800 trainees have completed or exited their attachments for reasons such as getting job offers or pursuing other interests, while 2,000 are currently in the programme.
Dr Tan noted that WSG is helping trainees who have not yet secured employment, through the likes of job fairs and career matching services.
In a separate reply to another question, Dr Tan said a higher proportion of resident workers are now in professional, managerial, executive and technician (PMET) jobs, compared with a decade ago.
The percentage of resident workers in such roles rose from 52.7 per cent to 62.1 per cent from 2011 to last year, while their share for non-PMET jobs declined.
He was responding to Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh’s questions about whether the Manpower Ministry is looking into new strategies to encourage younger Singaporeans to take up trade jobs such as licensed electricians and plumbers, and if a larger Singapore core can be built up in such jobs in the short to medium term.
Dr Tan said it is not realistic to aim to grow the Singapore core in every occupation, even as the Government works with industry and tripartite partners to create a wide range of job opportunities and prepare workers for jobs in demand.
“As you are aware, our local workforce is finite, with the ageing cohorts larger than the cohorts entering the workforce… As our economy expanded, we have seen a shift towards higher value-added activities and the growth of modern services such as in financial and insurance services, and professional services,” he added.
Young resident workers have also done well, said Dr Tan, noting that the employment rate for residents aged 25 to 29 stood at 85 per cent in 202,1 while their unemployment rate was 4.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, 75.5 per cent of resident workers in that age group were in PMET jobs last year, up from 67 per cent in 2011.
The real median income of full-time employed residents has also grown by 1.5 per cent a year from 2011 to 2021.
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MCI (P) 031/10/2021, MCI (P) 032/10/2021. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2021 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.