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The employment landscape is undergoing profound shifts around the world, in both advanced and emerging countries alike. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, some 35% of core skills required by occupations across job types and geographies will change or be wholly new by the year 2020 .
Recognising the importance of raising competencies and narrowing skills gaps in this changing world of work, the Labour Movement has been tapping on its extensive network – unions, U Associates, employers and progressive partners to understand ground issues to curate relevant programmes that meet the progression needs of our union members.
Leveraging the U Future Leaders Exchange Programme
In this vein, the Labour Movement launched today the U Future Leaders Exchange (UFLX), which is designed for time-strapped working people to enjoy unlimited access to bite-sized workshops, learning journeys and networking events, which they can pick and choose according to their career and development needs and preferences.
Last year, the Labour Movement initiated the Innovation Exchange (IEX) to help our working people cultivate growth mindsets and inspire them to think out of the box. Till date, more than 150 participants have benefitted from visiting leading innovation labs of multinational corporations (MNCs) including Intel, Dentsu Aegis Network, Procter & Gamble and Microsoft.
To help our working people better anticipate trends and navigate through technological disruptions, the Labour Movement conducted a series of micro-learning initiatives in March this year. The pilot run has since seen close to 1,000 union members attending close to 50 learning events till date. At least 60 more of such micro-learning initiatives are lined-up for next year.
With the encouraging take-up rate, the Labour Movement has introduced the UFLX, which incorporates the IEX, as well as three new tracks of micro-learning programmes – the Ideas Exchange, the Growth Exchange and the Entrepreneurial Exchange. The Ideas Exchange aims to expose participants to new concepts and ideas and provoke them to develop and drive their own ideas. Workshop topics include effective leadership, working in a virtual environment and intrapreneurship, among others. The Growth Exchange helps participants progress in both their personal and professional capacities and covers topics such as personal branding, managing personal finances, dealing with the challenges that come with a career switch, etc. The Entrepreneurial Exchange will inspire participants to develop an innovative and open mindset and covers topics ranging from digital marketing, project planning and management to kickstarting one’s entrepreneurship journey.
Providing opportunities for lifelong learning
Speaking to some 1,200 delegates at the U Future Leaders Summit today, NTUC Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing called upon unions and employers to leverage such learning opportunities to help our working people raise competencies and traverse through current economic restructuring. The Labour Movement hopes to build a lifelong-learning culture in the workforce that entails moving from “education for employment” to “education for employability” and from “job security” to “career security”. As organisations go through digitisation and evolve through turbulent times, our working people need to take charge of their own career paths and be skilled for new operating models with both current and future employers.
Mr Vivek Kumar, NTUC Assistant Director-General and Director of U Future Leaders, said, “Professionals, managers and executives in Singapore are fast realising that the disruption at our workplaces has already taken place. It is critical we don’t just acquire new skillsets but also adopt a new mindset to be successful at the new workplace. The Labour Movement has redesigned our flagship U Future Leaders Summit this year to highlight not just global and strategic perspectives but also to expose our working people to innovations by companies such as Mastercard and Dentsu Aegis Network. We hope our members and working people will benefit from this unique opportunity to learn from practitioners who are actively leading change in their respective sectors.”
Sharing on the Industry Transformation Maps through UFLX
Through UFLX, the Labour Movement has also been able to support the government’s implementation of the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs). For employees, the ITMs translate to upgrading and skills deepening as well as the creation of new and re-designed jobs leading to better wages. By holding conversations on the ground through its unions and U Associates, the Labour Movement has been able to find out the skills gaps in various industries and has been working with its eco-system of progressive partners to tailor relevant UFLX programmes to address the needs of our union members and help them develop their careers.
For instance, the Singapore Teachers’ Union (STU) leveraged the UFLX network to run the inaugural Future EduLeaders’ Symposium in April this year. Attended by over 150 educators, the symposium comprised thought-provoking discussions and gave these educators exclusive insights on how they can develop their leadership skills and future-proof their careers. Last month, the Port Officers’ Union (POU) organised an exclusive learning journey for PSA Singapore management partners to Intel’s Digital Hub for the Asia Pacific and Japan.
Other unions that have also tapped on the UFLX network to benefit both their management partners and members include the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Staff Union (NPASU), Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Staff Union (IRASSU) and Keppel FELS Employees' Union (KFEU). The U Future Leaders will also be working with the rest of the 58 affiliated unions to leverage UFLX for their upgrading needs in 2018.
“Training and upgrading is bread and butter for our union members and to be future ready, they have to constantly upgrade themselves with the right skills. Giving our members exposure to diverse professional views during the U Future Leaders Summit can help widen their knowledge and allow them to better focus their interests,” said Mr Yeo Chun Fing, General Secretary, Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE).
Besides enabling exclusive access to their innovation labs for IEX, leading technological firms on board the UFLX programme such as PayPal and Microsoft also enable knowledge transfer to union members through co-curated workshops.
Richard Koh, Chief Technology Officer, Microsoft Singapore said: “The workforce of today has transformed. Workers are increasingly diverse and mobile due to the rise of digital technologies. But beyond adapting to new technologies, they will also need to have future ready skills which include ingenuity, creativity and critical thinking. Ultimately, people are at the heart of digital transformation, and initiatives such as the U Future Leaders Programme will prime working professionals for opportunities in the digital economy. Our partnership with NTUC will allow us to share and enable various industry segments and individuals on latest technology know-how through our local programmes and facilities, and position them better for the new world of work.”
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