According to statistics from the Ministry of Manpower, there are approximately 200,000 freelancers and self-employed individuals in Singapore, or approximately one in 10 of the total resident workforce.
Increasingly, a number of these freelancers are younger and better educated, with 2.4 per cent of graduates from local universities opting to work freelance in 2017, up from 1.7 per cent in 2016.
An Insightful Exchange
As working freelance is a relatively new concept among youths, NTUC’s Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit (U FSE) held its first engagement session on 20 April 2018 where veteran freelancers explained the details about a freelance career to education and career guidance counsellors (ECGC) who provide career guidance to students.
During the session at the Ministry of Education (MOE) Headquarters in Grange Road, some 100 MOE ECGCs got first-hand accounts about the attractive and challenging aspects of such a career choice.
“By working with the Ministry of Education and through our Education and Career Guidance Counsellors, we hope to provide students with updated and relevant freelance knowledge, issues, network and resources.
These sharing sessions can be done in different forms; we can bring freelance industry experts to the schools or we can also invite these counsellors to our events. Ultimately, we hope that our students can make appropriate and informed career choices,” said NTUC Assistant Director-General Ang Hin Kee, who is also U FSE director.
Senior Minister of State (SMS) for Education Janil Puthucheary, who was recently appointed as advisor to U FSE, also attended the dialogue as special guest.
“Through his experience and network in the education sector, we are hopeful in reaching out to more students, to educate and raise awareness of how freelancing can be a sustainable and viable career option. His insights into disruptive technology will also add to the resource pool that freelancers can tap into when navigating into the new workplace,” said ADG Ang.
