By Ramesh Subbaraman
The tripartite maritime taskforces for seafaring and shore-based sectors formed by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) will be rolling out several initiatives to step up efforts to attract more Singaporeans into the industry.
These include increasing publicity and outreach efforts to profile the diverse job opportunities available, improving workplace learning and training, and facilitating upgrading opportunities.
These announcements were made on 16 July 2015 during the 8th Maritime Manpower Singapore 2015 Conference, opened by NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Chan Chun Sing.
Attracting And Retaining
Speaking at the event, SG Chan highlighted that manpower is Singapore’s biggest challenge today when it comes to any economic sector, and the maritime sector has not been spared.
“We face an even greater challenge in the maritime industry. Jobs are aplenty, it is difficult to attract the young especially if the young continues to see the maritime industry with old lenses".
SG Chan has three challenges for the sector to reach out to more to join the maritime industry through the tripartite way.
First, profile the job scope of the the industry in a better way to attract the new generation of young people.
“We need to go into the schools early because the numbers that we need are not so phenomenal that we need to do broad-based marketing. Instead we need to be highly focused on how we go about talking to the students, inspiring them to join us with the kind of challenges that they are able to confront and overcome,” said SG Chan.
Next is to work on retaining people in the industry and in this regard, the Maritime Port Authority has agreed to work with the Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union to help seafarers renew their vocational licenses to continue working.
The third challenge is living and working longer. SG Chan urged the industry to look at programmes to extend the work life of experienced seafarers.
Tripartism's Role
SG Chan explained that Singapore has a very unique tripartite system and to overcome many of these challenges, there is a need to work together as a team- the government, employers and the labour movement.
And this is the reason for the partners to launch the Tripartite Nautical Training Award a few yars ago and the latest Tripartite Engineering Training Award on 16 July 2015.
The aim says SG Chan, is to attract more young Singaporeans to join the maritime sector and provide them with the diversity of experience and the broad-based understanding of the industry.
This is so that in time to come, they would not just be seafarers but also use the platform to take on greater responsibilities in the industry.
MPA’s Role
On its part, MPA will be exploring more structured on-the-job training, develop multiple progression pathways, as well as facilitate transitioning of local seafarers from sea-going to shore-based jobs.
These initiatives are in line with the national-level SkillsFuture effort aimed at providing Singaporeans with the opportunities to develop their fullest potential throughout life
MPA will be announcing more details on these initiatives in the months ahead.
Source: NTUC This Week
