Over 5,000 workers from the Dairy Farm Singapore (DFSG) stand to benefit from a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on 17 October 2019.
The Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) and DFSG signing will see the setting up of a Jobs, Skills and Training Committee comprising union and management representatives.
All retail brands under DFSG – Cold Storage, Giant, Jasons Deli, Marketplace, Guardian and 7-Eleven – are included in the MOU.
According to General Secretary of FDAWU Tan Hock Soon, the formalisation of the committee is timely as there is a need to start preparing team members for the jobs of the future economy.
“Adopting such a forward-looking and progressive approach allows the company and the union to jointly assure team members that so long as they are willing to retrain and upskill, efforts will be made to ensure that no one is left behind,” he added.
The committee builds on the longstanding partnership between the union and DFSG and is a step up from earlier efforts in a curated SkillsFuture for Digital Workplace course specially for DFSG team members.
“We are excited to be a part of this meaningful initiative, as the first retailer to do so. The retail environment is evolving rapidly, driven by advancements in technology and changes in consumer behavior,” said Sam Kim, CEO Health and Beauty, Chief Marketing Officer and Business Officer, Dairy Farm Group.
DFSG will tap on the relevant SkillsFuture initiatives to provide training and upskilling opportunities for their workers.
The committee will look into supporting DFSG’s workforce to adapt to technology and future work disruptions as the Group transits into a new economy.
FDAWU’s university partner Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will assist in studying and analysing how work in DFSG can be transformed as well as identify suitable training and development programmes.
The research will be conducted by the SUTD Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC) while SUTD will develop the programmes.
“We are pleased to collaborate with DFSG and FDAWU. It is through partnerships like these that span research, transformation, and training that we can strengthen the capacity of companies and workers to prepare for the future with confidence,” said Director of LKYCIC Poon King Wang.
