The Labour Movement endeavours to focus on delivering more Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs)-related programmes to support ‘Progression’ opportunities for the young and mature PMEs.
Since the establishment of the Labour Movement’s PME Unit in 2011, it has been serving PMEs in four key areas – Protection, Progression, Placement and Privileges. One key focus area was ‘Protection’, and the Labour Movement had successfully lobbied for legislative changes that allow more PMEs to be protected through the amended Employment Act and the Industrial Relations Act in 2014. In the same year, the Labour Movement also played a role in the introduction of the Fair Consideration Framework and the National Jobs Bank for greater emphasis on equal work opportunities for Singaporean workers.
With the setup of its U PME Centres since early 2014, the Labour Movement has assisted some 600 PMEs with issues ranging from workplace advisory to career and employment-related to professional development. 63 per cent of the PMEs who approached the U PME Centres are above the age of 40. 43 per cent of them came to seek help in the area of ‘Placement’ - employment and employability.
Helping PMEs Stay Future-Ready and Future-Proof
While efforts continue in the areas of ‘Protection’ and ‘Placement’, the Labour Movement plans to beef up its efforts to ensure that the young and mature PMEs are future-ready and future-proof. This is done so by ensuring the young PMEs are able to move up the career ladder with better skill-sets and knowledge whilst meeting their career aspirations, and for the mature PMEs to remain employable through the acquiring of employable skills and second-skilling.
“Through our recent survey done on PMEs, we found out that many of them face challenges pertaining to their current skill-set and knowledge. We chose to focus on the young and the mature PMEs because we have been interacting with many PMEs across different life stages and found that these two groups have particular needs and face its own set of challenges. We therefore hope to be able to assist young PMEs in their career progression and for the mature PMEs to be able to be a source of support because reports suggest that those above 40 take a longer time to find work if they become unemployed for a variety of reasons”, said Mr Patrick Tay, Director of NTUC PME Unit.
Recent PME Survey
The PME Unit conducted a survey in the third quarter of 2014 to find out PMEs’ perception towards their skillsets and job mobility. The survey gathered views of 894 working PMEs from 10 different industries through telephone interviews. Majority of them (88 per cent) were managers and below, and drew monthly salaries of $2,000 to $6,000.
Six in 10 respondents said they encountered challenges with regard to their current skill-set and knowledge at their current jobs. The top three challenges identified were IT challenges, lack of relevant training or industry specific skill-set and the need to constantly upgrade their skills due to the changes in regulations or market conditions. Close to 9 in 10 respondents felt that they could learn or upgrade their skills or knowledge. The top three areas polled were communication, management and IT skills.
The survey also found that young PMEs (20 – 29 years old) were uncertain about their careers and they did not feel confident and/ or competent in their current jobs, whilst the mature PMEs (50 years and above) encountered challenges with IT skills.
‘Progression’ Initiatives Going Forward
The upcoming PME Week (7 April – 11 April) held in the heart of the Central Business District in NTUC Centre will see training workshops on negotiation techniques, personal branding and effective project management. PMEs are welcomed to participate in these workshops, to hone their skills in these areas.
The Labour Movement will also continue work closely with key partners like the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability (e2i), U Associate partners, Next U and even tripartite partners like Singapore Workforce Development Agency - CaliberLink to provide training programmes targeted at the young PMEs and mature PMEs, and make them readily available for the busy PMEs.
“Very soon, PMEs can look forward to having more career-related training options in the heart of the Central Business District (CBD) offered through our U PME Centres. This will be done in partnership with e2i and CaliberLink, and the programmes are targeted to work in alignment with the Government’s training initiatives like the SkillsFuture funding. PMEs are encouraged to take charge of their careers and prepare for the future,” concluded Mr Patrick Tay.
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