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~ NTUC’s Youth Taskforce to engage 10,000 youths between 18 and 25 years old, understand their work-life aspirations and support them in their careers ~
~ Year-long series of engagement activities for youths to be held in partnership with agencies, Institutes of Higher Learning, self-help groups, youth-targeted organisations, youth groups and more ~
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has launched the Youth Taskforce today to engage 10,000 youths to better understand their work-life aspirations, especially in areas of career, finances and mental well-being, and better serve their needs and support them in their careers.
The NTUC Youth Taskforce will be embarking on engagements with youths between 18 and 25 years old to find out more about their aspirations, goals, anxieties, and worries at work, at the workplace and in the workforce. The taskforce wants to gather insights from youths specifically between this age range, as they are at a life- stage where they start planning how they want their careers to kick off and how that will fit in to their overall work-life aspirations. Youths can look to participating in these engagements by sharing with the taskforce their views through surveys, focus group discussions and other activities.
At the end of this year-long engagement, the NTUC Youth Taskforce will share insights and put forth recommendations on how to better support these youths in their work-life aspirations, as they transition from being students to working adults. The taskforce will partner with government agencies, Institutes of Higher Learning, self- help groups, youth-targeted organisations, youth groups and more, as part of this ongoing effort to reach out to the youths. The taskforce will also engage young Singaporeans who pursue non-traditional tracks like sports, arts and entrepreneurship. This includes youths who had struggled in their earlier years as well, such as those in need of second chances.
NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Ng Chee Meng on the launch of the NTUC Youth Taskforce said, “Youths will make up a large proportion of our workforce in future. As NTUC resolves to refresh and strengthen its compact with workers, we will
look at the needs of our youths and help them in their careers amidst local and global challenges, so that they would have a better future”.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong, Guest-of- Honour for LIT DISCOvery 2022, Young NTUC’s annual signature symposium for graduating students and young working adults, officiated the launch of the Youth Taskforce. He was joined by NTUC President Mary Liew; SG Ng Chee Meng; NTUC Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) Desmond Choo; and Young NTUC Executive Secretary Wendy Tan at the event.
LIT DISCOvery is an aggregated career discovery resource platform organised by Young NTUC, powered by the National Youth Council and supported by SkillsFuture Singapore in support of the SkillsFuture Festival. LIT DISCOvery aims to encourage youths to take charge and design their own careers, as well as continuously upskill to stay relevant and competitive.
Challenges and needs of youths in the working world
Based on a series of surveys and focus group discussions conducted in 2022, various insights were gathered from 2,039 youths aged between 18 and 35 years old. Across multiple survey findings, it was found that more than one in five youths faced challenges in career opportunities and would like support in career guidance and career planning.
One such study, conducted in April 2022 with 1,039 youths aged between 18 and 35 years old by NTUC in partnership with Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)’s Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, identified various challenges that youths faced. Of these, the top three challenges were in areas of career opportunities and prospects (56 per cent), finances (54 per cent), and mental well-being (52 per cent). It was also found that most youths prefer to resolve work- related problems on their own or seek help from friends, colleagues and family members instead of other authorities and organisations. This suggests a lack of awareness of challenges youths could run into at the workplace before their first job. In addition, there is a decrease in reliance on family members and friends as youths grow older. This suggests that there is a gap where youths’ needs and challenges are not met and addressed even as they continue in their career journey. [See Annex A]
In another survey conducted by Young NTUC in February 2022 with 1,000 respondents between the ages of 18 and 25 years old, it was found that youths find job and internship opportunities (29 per cent), skills workshops (25 per cent) and career mentoring (19 per cent) most useful. [See Annex B]
NTUC’s Youth Taskforce’s year-long engagement to dive deeper into youths’ needs and aspirations
In this year’s May Day Message by NTUC President Mary Liew and SG Ng, they announced that a Youth Taskforce will be launched to focus on supporting youths with their aspirations, challenges, and needs. With these survey findings, NTUC aims to create conversations around various challenges that youths face and uncover a more diverse range of views that have yet to be shared.
ASG Desmond, who chairs the NTUC Youth Taskforce, said, “We have been engaging the youths over the years and when we gathered these insights, we found that there is so much more about youths that NTUC can help them with at work and in their lives. Through the NTUC Youth Taskforce initiative, it’s time for us to dive deeper and find out more on what exactly inspires them and what we can do to help them not only succeed but also to empower them amidst the myriad of opportunities and anxieties faced at work.”
One key component of NTUC Youth Taskforce is the Youth Hub, a roving exhibition which was also launched at LIT DISCOvery 2022. Through this hub, the taskforce seeks to engage youths through a series of activities where they can share their aspirations and concerns; take a career profiling test; and learn new tips on starting their new job or internship right for career success. With plans to partner Institutes of Higher Learning, this Youth Hub will rove around various schools as well as spaces intended for youths. Youths can visit
www.youthtaskforce.sg to find out more on how they can participate.
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