Singapore’s workforce is changing rapidly, with a growing pool of Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) who have very diverse needs and aspirations. To better outreach and serve PMEs, the Labour Movement launched the NTUC U PME Centre in 2014. Two physical centres at One Marina Boulevard and Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability, as well as a virtual portal were set up.
Since its formation, the NTUC U PME Centre has assisted some 1,420 PMEs with 1,474 cases relating to workplace advisory, employment and employability, as well as career and professional development. The NTUC U PME Centre saw 887 cases in the past year (March 2015 to February 2016), a 51 per cent increase from 587 cases in its first year of operation.
More PMEs Seeking Placement Assistance
A noticeable trend in the past year was a sharp increase in the number of PMEs who sought assistance from the NTUC U PME Centre in the area of “Placement”, i.e., employment and employability. NTUC U PME Centre saw 518 “Placement” cases from March 2015 to February 2016, as compared to 253 cases during the same period a year ago. 77 per cent of the cases came from mature PMEs who were retrenched due to restructuring or were terminated by their previous employer.
The U PME Centre also noticed a slight increase in the number of “Protection” cases from 212 to 258 in the last 12 months, where PMEs typically requested for assistance in the areas of understanding labour laws, termination of employment and salary issues.
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) and Director of PME Unit Patrick Tay said, “The increasing number of NTUC U PME Centre cases corresponds with the current economic situation experienced. Through our interaction with PMEs, we see many facing mismatches in the areas of skills, jobs and job expectation. With an ageing workforce, it is also worrying that PMEs above 40 years of age appear to be more susceptible to redundancies and unemployment. We have spotted these challenges and thus, we will put in place programmes/measures and also lobby the Government to deepen and widen support for these fellow PMEs.”
Strengthen Singaporean Core - Clamp Down on Discriminatory Hiring Practices
One way of helping PMEs is to push for a strong Singaporean Core, which is key to ensuring that Singaporeans have equal and fair job opportunities. To do so, the Labour Movement suggests that the Government to clamp down on companies with discriminatory hiring practices through a company-specific and tiered approach so that companies will not hire foreigners first over Singaporeans:
Level I
Stringent Scrutiny – Companies that display the two ‘weaks’ - weak Singaporean Core and a weak commitment to hire and groom Singaporeans will be identified and differentiated and given stricter Employment Pass (EP) application conditions and requirements.
Level II
Suspend Employment Pass (EP) Applications – If companies identified at Level I continue to show a disregard or weak commitment to forming a Singaporean Core, any of their EP applications would be suspended.
Level III
PME Dependency Ratio – Should the companies remain recalcitrant, company-specific PME dependency ratio would be put in place as a last resort.
Enhance Career Support Programme to Cover All PMEs
In line with the challenging economic and labour landscape, it is expected that retrenchment numbers will continue to grow. Consequently, more PMEs are likely to be affected. The Career Support Programme (CSP) was rolled out in October 2015 to encourage the employment of mature PMEs by providing subsidies to employers who hire mature PMEs for jobs paying $4,000 and above. The Labour Movement proposes to enhance the CSP in three areas:
Beyond helping mature PMEs, the CSP’s scope of coverage could be widened to benefit all PMEs, in particular, those who are retrenched. This assures that affected PMEs would be provided with more options and opportunities in the challenging economic landscape.
The amount of subsidy support should be adjusted to make the programme more attractive to businesses, especially the small and medium enterprises.
There is also a need to further enhance the awareness and publicity so that more PMEs can benefit from the CSP.
“The different stakeholders – our businesses, employers, PMEs and the Government need to re-calibrate and re-set our mental models so that we can continue to adapt, re-innovate and restructure despite the volatile and challenging economic and labour landscape. We need to stay ready, relevant and resilient.” ASG Patrick Tay reiterated.
Help PMEs Stay Future-Ready and Future-Proof
To educate and raise awareness among PMEs on the importance of being future-ready and future-proof, the upcoming PME Week (4 April – 9 April 2016), held in the heart of the Central Business District at NTUC Centre, seeks to encourage PMEs to take charge of their future.
Targeting PMEs, the week-long programme comprises a series of day forums, lunchtime and evening events such as seminars and workshops aimed at helping and equipping PME members with the necessary skills and knowledge to be future-ready.
Additionally, the Labour Movement will continue to work closely with key partners like NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), U Associate partners, Next U and tripartite partners like Singapore Workforce Development Agency to reach out to, and to provide necessary assistance to more PMEs.
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