Landscape employees in low-rung and entry-level positions will soon receive more diverse and relevant training courses, as well as an alternative pathway for their career progression.
The Tripartite Cluster for Landscape Industry (TCL) shared its recommendations on 29 January 2021 to revise the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) skills and career ladder for the landscape maintenance sub-sector.
The Government accepted the TCL’s recommendations on the same day.
From 1 February 2021, the PWM Skills Ladder will be enhanced via an expanded list of Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) courses, ensuring that workers are suitably skilled for their respective job scopes.
The enhanced PWM skills ladder also aims to nurture workers and advance their careers by ensuring higher proficiency levels for those with supervisory responsibilities or more complex job scopes.
A new Specialist Track will be introduced under the existing PWM Career Ladder. This new track aims to professionalise the sub-sector, making the profession more attractive for both new entrants as well as existing workers.
Under this new Specialist Track, two new job roles have been proposed, namely a Landscape Specialist and a Senior Landscape Specialist.
In addition to the current PWM career ladder – which maps out the career path towards a supervisory role – landscape workers who prefer to specialise in landscaping skills such as horticulture would have this option to do so.
The TCL will carry out further consultations before proposing and announcing the recommended wage levels for the new job roles.
Speaking on the new recommendations, NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Zainal Sapari said that ensuring fair wages, good welfare and better work prospects for vulnerable workers remains a key focus of NTUC and the tripartite partners.
“This review of the PWM for the landscape maintenance sub-sector is testament to our ongoing efforts to recognise the real value of the work done by such essential service workers, ensuring their skills and wages commensurate accordingly.
“After all, landscape maintenance employees are the ones who keep our greenery lush and ensure our vision of becoming a City in Nature can be realised to benefit many generations to come,” said Mr Zainal, who also chairs the TCL.
Amidst greater technological adoption in the industry, Landscape Industry Association Singapore Chairman Goh Eng Lam shared that attracting and retaining a skilled and productive workforce remains a key focus of landscape companies.
“The enhanced PWM Skills Ladder and the new dual-track career brings greater clarity for both landscape companies and service buyers on concrete steps to be taken in uplifting our workers, towards achieving better service outcomes,” he said.
The new recommendations will complement the wage schedule that has been set out in the last review in 2018, under the mandatory PWM.
From 1 July 2021, landscape workers will earn at least $1,550 in basic wages – up from $1,450 currently.
Additionally, eligible employees can look forward to the mandatory PWM Bonus that landscape companies have to pay their workers, which has been in effect since January 2020.
In a Facebook post, NTUC Director of Operations and Mobilisation Division Fahmi Aliman said that the changes to the career and skills ladders go hand in hand with the wage schedule, making the sector more attractive.
He wrote: "This is one part of the holistic effort that NTUC is putting in to ensure our lower wage workers can enjoy better pay that commensurate with skills upgrading, higher productivity and career advancement.
"While we constantly review the existing PWMs in the security, cleaning and landscape sectors, our other key focus remain on expansion of the PWM so that more lower wage workers can benefit."
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