NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and Chemical Industries Employees’ Union (CIEU) have launched the Biomedical Sciences Training Community (BMTC) on 17 September 2019 at the Inaugural Biomedical Sciences Symposium.
The community is a first-of-its-kind network in the pharmaceutical and biologics industry, set up to enhance workers' skills.
As part of the network, e2i and CIEU will work with industry partners to provide workers with short courses.
According to e2i, the aim is to enhance workers’ skillsets in the digital and emerging digital 4.0 technologies and help mid-management executives develop their careers.
BMTC will use a three-pronged approach that focuses on leadership training, Industry 4.0 knowledge and digitalisation.
To date, the industry has a combined workforce of about 22,000 workers.
Leadership Component
As part of the leadership component, the community hopes to strengthen the Singaporean core in the middle and upper management positions.
In March 2019, the first batch of 100 middle and senior management from 14 companies completed a workshop called Project Zodiac.
The workshop was curated by Biopharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Advisory Council, e2i and training provider Forest Wolf.
The two-day workshop saw participants develop self-awareness and soft skills such as conflict management, effective communication and problem-solving.
Commenting on the BMTC initiative, e2i CEO Gilbert Tan said: “With our close network and direct engagement with the biomedical sciences industry management, tripartite partners and workers, NTUC’s e2i is well-positioned to be the aggregator to testbed and implement new programmes.
“The BMTC is an example of a concerted effort to coordinate collaborative pro-active efforts between various stakeholders and translate them into real, tangible actions to benefit workers. The three-pronged approach … aims to overcome training challenges and bring new ways of training and learning to keep pace with industry transformation.”
CIEU President G. Rajendran said that the union will continue to ramp up efforts under BMTC to mobilise workers for training and “ensure better wages, welfare and work prospects even as the company transforms.”
