Over the years, Singapore’s workforce has evolved with more Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) joining the workforce. In 2012, there were over 636,000 PMEs comprising 31 per cent of the resident workforce*, up from 27 per cent in 2002. These PMEs will require support at the workplace so the Labour Movement responded by forming the NTUC PME Unit back in September 2011 to better reach out to PMEs and assist them in four key areas or the four Ps – Protection, Progression, Placement and Privileges.
Protection – Advocacy & Workplace Rights
Over the past two years, the Labour Movement has successfully lobbied for various workplace causes and employment terms such as fair and transparent hiring under the Fair Consideration Framework (September 2013); increased protection and coverage of PMEs under the revised Employment Act (November 2013); and increasing PME representation by rank and file unions under the soon to be amended Industrial Relations (IR) Act.
In 2014, the Labour Movement will continue its programmes that serve to create awareness among and educate PMEs on their workplace rights through:
These will be continued with the initiative Law Works which is in partnership with the Law Society of Singapore. We will also launch an updated version of the Workplace Rights for the Busy Executive book.
Also once the IR Act changes are effected, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) will work with our affiliated unions to stretch the scope of representation to bring more PMEs into the Labour Movement so that we can remain relevant and cater to their needs as well as be able to represent them collectively at their workplaces.
Given that the Labour Movement has done quite a lot in the area of Protection for PMEs in the past two years, we will focus on ramping up programmes and services in the areas of Progression, Placement and Privileges.
Progression – Future-Ready PMEs
In the area of Progression, the Labour Movement wants to empower PMEs through professional development to help them become future-ready and future-proof to meet with Singapore’s evolving economic landscape. Partners such as NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and NTUC LearningHub will continue to spearhead the professional development programmes and initiatives.
In 2013, e2i has supported more than 200 PME programmes, target to impact 20,000 PMEs. Some popular programmes include Executive Workshops Executive Development Programme for the Hospitality industry, Logistics Specialist Place-and-Train Programme, Wafer Fabrication WSQ Programme, Screen-Train-Place-Train Programmes for OPEC (Oil & Gas, Petroleum, Energy and Chemical) and EPME (Electronics, Precision & Machinery Engineering) Clusters.
Moving ahead, professional development programmes will focus at the cluster or industry level. This is also part of the Labour Movement’s Progressive Wage Model where one component looks at skills upgrading of workers.
The current tight labour market makes it difficult for many employers to release their staff for training. Thus, some attention will also be paid to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in this aspect. The Labour Movement is exploring how it can better outreach to SMEs and their workers given the challenge that they are found in small groups. So a way forward is to aggregate them for training programmes.
The Labour Movement’s executive education arm under NTUC LearningHub, Next U, offers a large suite of PME courses. Over the past two years, more than 26,500 PMEs have undergone training through Next U and e2i. Next U will focus on the e-learning platform courseandexam.com for modular bite-size learning for PMEs and exploring the possibility of including career coaching.
Placement – Better Employment and Employability Opportunities
Presently, NTUC’s e2i has seen more PMEs approaching e2i for employment and career assistance with one in 2 being PMEs. This has increased from one in 3 just six months ago (June 2013). Through e2i-organised career fairs for PMEs, we have helped 5,916 of them secure jobs in the last two years.
Moving into 2014 and through working with e2i, the Labour Movement will continue to beef up its capabilities to help PMEs secure better jobs and remain employable. This will be done in a variety of ways such as through coaching and training advisory sessions, and leveraging on various platforms to meet with employers to better understand their needs so as to create win-win outcomes on both ends.
With the introduction of the National Jobs Bank under the Fair Consideration Framework, this will also augment e2i’s placement services to refer local PMEs to available positions in the national jobs database.
Privileges – Engaging PMEs’ Needs
Through the NTUC Membership Department, we have rolled out campaigns, events and lifestyle benefits for PMEs. Moving forward, the Labour Movement wants to connect with more PMEs and will establish networks that can provide mutual support to PMEs.
As shared at the NTUC Ordinary Delegates’ Conference in October 2013, one of the strategies to grow membership will also be the U Associate programme. The U Associate programme enables professional associations, alumnus groups and institutions to associate themselves with the Labour Movement. Through U Associate, we want to engage PMEs better.
Launch of one-stop U PME Centres
To widen our outreach to PMEs and better serve their needs through the 4Ps – Protection, Progression, Placement and Privileges, the Labour Movement will launch two one-stop U PME Centres. These will be introduced in phases. The first U PME Centre at e2i in Jurong East will be opened on 2 January 2014. The second centre, to be located at One Marina Boulevard, is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2014.
PMEs who visit these centres can expect a range of services from career and employment-related advice, to professional development services. In addition to these, the PME Unit will also launch a virtual PME Centre to establish an online community network for PMEs to access information and help anytime and anywhere. This is expected to be ready by mid-2014.
*Labour Force in Singapore, 2012, Ministry of Manpower.
