Ministry of Transport
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Melvin Yong called for an update on the initiatives under the Rail Manpower Development Package (RMDP) and the number of workers expected to benefit from these initiatives.
In response, Senior Minister of State for Transport and Communications and Information Dr Janil Puthucheary revealed that the first batch of workers will start training in these areas from the second quarter of this year, and over 3,000 are expected to benefit over five years.
The RMDP will also attract, retain and raise the profile of rail professionals through the launch of the new SGRail Industry Scholarships and Sponsorships.
“Beyond bus and rail workers, we will also continue to provide retraining and upskilling opportunities for taxi and Private Hire Car drivers, including allowing them to move laterally into adjacent sectors,” added Dr Janil.
For the aviation sector, a $112 million assistance package will be rolled out to defray cost and ease cash flow pressures.
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore will also extend the $280 million Aviation Development Fund for another five years from 2020 to 2025. Since 2015, the fund has already helped nearly 80 organisations raise productivity through over 200 initiatives.
For the maritime sector, a 50 per cent port dues concession will be provided to passenger vessels, on top of all existing concessions.
The Maritime Port Authority of Singapore and Info-communications Media Development Au... have also launched the Digital Acceleration Index to help maritime companies self-evaluate their digital maturity.
Come April, together with Institute of Technical Education, the Ministry will launch two new Work-Study Diploma courses in Airport Operations and Maritime Business Management respectively.
Ministry of Social and Family Development
The Ministry will introduce the Community Capability Trust (CCT) – a dedicated, long-term fund of up to $480 million to strengthen social service agencies’ (SSAs) capability and capacity. This fund will be made up of contributions from the Government, Tote Board, and the community.
“The social service sector is a major partner in our endeavour to build a society of opportunities for all. Demand for social services will increase in both scale and complexity, as our social challenges evolve,” said Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee in his Committee of Supply Debate 2020 speech.
Labour Member of Parliament Seah Kian Peng asked if more can be done to better support non-working mothers from low-income families who do not have alternative caregiving arrangements.
In response, the Ministry announced that with effect from August 2020, they will streamline subsidy support under Special Approval for all children from low-income families living in public rental flats, or receiving ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term or Long-Term Assistance.
NTUC Assistant Director-General Ang Hin Kee spoke about enhancing the accessibility, affordability and quality of student care centres (or SCCs).
The Ministry announced that the amount of subsidies under the Student Care Fee Assistance (SCFA) scheme will be increased from 1 July 2020. Eligible families will receive up to $60 more subsidies each month.
To benefit more families, the income criteria will also be raised from $4,000 to $4,500, and the per capita income from $1,000 to $1,125. Around 9,000 students will benefit from these enhancements this year.
Ministry of Health
Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor announced that the Ministry of Health (MOH) will set aside another $150 million to support community care institutions over the next three years.
MOH projects that this will benefit up to 4,000 local nurses and support care staff, if it is fully taken up. After three years, MOH will factor in the higher salary levels in their funding to community care providers.
“We strongly encourage employers to take the opportunity to enhance salaries of nurses and support care staff, and continue to improve career prospects of our care staff in the community,” she said.
In response to NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Melvin Yong, Dr Khor stated that MOH has been actively working with the union and employers on the retention and development of the healthcare workforce.
Mr Yong called for more partnerships with the Labour Movement to develop training and work opportunities for both mid-career and local workers in the healthcare industry.
Dr Khor said: “We are also eager to bring non-practising nurses back to our healthcare family. Over the past four years, about 500 local nurses have returned to practice annually.
“Returning nurses may undergo a refresher course under the Return to Nursing scheme, and those who return to the community care sector are eligible for a retention bonus of up to $5,000.”
Ministry of Education
SkillsFuture will remain a critical enabler for Singapore's next phase of development. The 'Next Bound of SkillsFuture' will see enhanced focus on employers and enterprises, and the contributions they can make to the national movement.
Special focus will be given to helping mid-career workers in their 40s and 50s to stay employable and move on to new jobs or new roles.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) will have five key initiatives under the ‘Next Bound SkillsFuture’, namely:
Strengthening the enterprise pillar of the skills ecosystem – SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) will work with large anchor enterprises to 'train-for-sector', beyond their own needs. These enterprises will be industry leaders that can influence and support other companies to scale up their employer-initiated skills development efforts.
Enhancing workplace learning capabilities – More centres, like the National Centre of Excellence for Workplace Learning (NACE) at Nanyang Polytechnic, will be launched at the institutes of higher learning (IHLs), with the next centre to be located at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT).
Scaling up SkillsFuture work-study pathways – MOE will further scale up Work-Study Programmes as a mainstream pathway. The Ministry is planning to make such pathways available to 12% of each age cohort by 2025, up from 3.5% today.
Encouraging and facilitating lifelong learning – To further encourage Singaporeans to reskill and upskill, the Government will provide a one-off top-up of $500 to the SkillsFuture Credit accounts of all eligible Singapore Citizens aged 25 and above as at 31 December 2020.
Scaling up career transition programmes for mid-career workers – The Government will provide greater support for Singaporeans in their 40s and 50s under the new SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package. Reskilling programmes will be scaled up across different modalities, with the aim of doubling the annual placements of Singaporeans in their 40s and 50s to around 5,500 by 2025.
The Government will provide a further SkillsFuture Credit top-up of $500 for Singapore Citizens aged 40 to 60 as at 31 December 2020.
Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources
“Through upskilling and technology adoption, more than 45,000 people will benefit from higher-value jobs in the environmental services, water and agri-food sectors over the next five to 10 years,” said Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Amy Khor in her Committee of Supply Debate 2020 speech.
For instance, the National Environment Agency (NEA) will be enhancing the competencies of Environmental Control Officers (ECOs) who are currently engaged at construction sites as advisers of good environmental practices, and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) will enhance the training framework for Food Hygiene Officers (FHOs).
There will also be exciting jobs created in new growth areas such as the high-tech agri-food sector.
“SFA will continue working with Government agencies, institutes of higher learning and the industry to build competency within the agri-food workforce. This includes developing training programmes at various levels, which will be rolled out at the right time to meet industry needs without creating oversupply,” added Dr Khor.
She was responding to NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Desmond Choo’s questions on how the Ministry is supporting job re-design and helping workers find higher value work in their current industries, and how they plan to jumpstart and develop this field in institutes of higher learning.
Ministry of National Development
“As we continue to remake our city, we must ensure that our firms and our workers in the Built Environment sector keep pace with technological advancements, improve their capabilities and seize upcoming opportunities,” said Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad at the Committee of Supply Debate 2020.
Since 2017, the Ministry has made good progress in the Construction Industry Transformation Map areas, namely, Design for Manufacturing and Assembly, Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD) and Green Buildings. They will continue in their efforts to transform the construction sector.
To help local SMEs with IDD, for example, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and SkillsFuture Singapore have developed the Construction and Facilities Management Industry Digital Plan. Some $19 million will be set aside to fund SMEs to adopt digital solutions.
New Professional Conversion Programmes, or PCPs, to prepare mid-career entrants to join the sector will also be introduced progressively.
A Skills Framework for the Built Environment sector will be developed to map out skillsets required at various levels for key job roles in the construction and facilities management sectors, and their career progression pathways.
Ministry of Trade and Industry
When businesses grow and transform, they have an important role to play in actively reskilling their workers, rather than poaching from others, said Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing in his Committee of Supply Debate 2020 speech.
From 1 April 2020, worker outcomes will be included as a mandatory condition for companies that apply for the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) funding. These outcomes may consist of wage increases, creation of skilled jobs for Singaporeans, job-redesign, and worker training.
To create good jobs, Singapore will need economic growth. But this does not happen naturally, added Mr Chan. He explained that the link between growth and jobs is skills, and Singaporeans must have the right skills to take on the jobs that growth creates.
Mr Chan also said that the Government has put in significant investments in our education and training system over the years. Some of these include pre-employment training (PET) and continuing education and training (CET) systems, and the SkillsFuture initiative.
There are also capability building programmes to transfer overseas capabilities and expertise to Singapore’s local workforce, such as the Capability Transfer Programme, said Mr Chan.
Meanwhile, the Government is aware of concerns from workers who are in their 40s and 50s, he added.
According to Mr Chan, tripartism plays a crucial role in increasing support for these workers. Businesses must provide more employment and upgrading opportunities, while workers must try to reskill. The Government, on the other hand, will support companies and workers in their endeavours.
Ministry of Communications and Information
The Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) will work with NTUC to roll out additional courses under the PDPC’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) Competency Roadmap and Training Framework, said Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary in his Committee of Supply Debate speech.
The Ministry of Communications and Information, together with NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Instititute) and NTUC LearningHub, aim to train 500 DPOs in the first year.
The PDPC published the DPO Competency Roadmap and Training Framework on 17 July 2019. The framework spells out the expected roles and responsibilities at each of the three stages of a DPO's career.
Each stage requires the DPO to possess various levels of competencies and skills such as data protection management, data breach management and design thinking.
The framework also identifies the courses DPO’s are required to take to improve their skills.
Prime Minister’s Office
In her Committee of Supply speech today in Parliament, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo said that the Government will provide greater support to businesses to help employees achieve better work-life harmony.
She was addressing concerns raised that many Singaporeans found it challenging to balance work and family.
At present, working couples have a combined total of 20 weeks of paid parental leave and two weeks of unpaid leave in their child’s first year. These do not include the six days of paid childcare leave each parent receives till the child turns 7, and two days of paid childcare leave until the child turns 12.
While Mrs Teo understands that employees would welcome mandated paid leave, the Government must be mindful of the impact on employers.
“While the public sector is in a position to do more than current legislation requires, we cannot assume the same for all businesses, especially SMEs which are the single largest group of employers and already facing manpower constraints,” she said.
Instead of imposing higher obligations on employers, the Government will provide greater support to businesses that are able to do more, such as supporting them in implementing flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and introducing more progressive human resource practices.
The efforts come after the findings of a Citizens’ Panel, convened last year.
The Government will introduce new tools and guidelines to facilitate the adoption of FWAs and work-life harmony initiatives, increase the recognition of employers who adopt these initiatives and work to make them socially acceptable in society.
Ministry of Law
Senior Minister of State for Law Edwin Tong stated that the Short-Term Relief Fund (STRF) and Migrant Worker Assistance Fund (MWAF) could be used to provide ex gratia payments to low wage employees whose employers are unable to pay salaries due to financial difficulties or business failure.
Both the STRF and MWAF are managed by the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) and the Migrant Worker Centre (MWC) respectively.
Mr Tong was responding to NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay’s concerns on enforcement of Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT) Orders, and how would employees make their claims from companies that have already applied for insolvency. Mr Tay also raised a suggestion of having the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) make cash advancements for owed monies, and thereby standing in place of the worker as the preferred creditor.
On MOM standing in place of the worker for monies owed, Mr Tong elaborated that while the measure was previously considered, it was determined that it could lead to bigger issues, such as employers intentionally defaulting on payments knowing that employees have alternative avenues for reimbursement.
