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The NTUC Financial and Professional Services Cluster is partnering the associations under the NTUC U Associate (UA) banking and finance ecosystem to help finance professionals enhance their skill sets and access new opportunities. Mr Patrick Tay, Assistant Secretary-General of NTUC, announced the collaboration between the Financial and Professional Services Cluster and the UA financial associations officially this evening at one of the Financial Services Month expert series event.
Under this collaboration, four associations under the UA – Financial Planning Association of Singapore, Financial Women’s Association Singapore, Insurance and Financial Practitioners Association of Singapore and Singapore FinTech Association, will work closely with the Cluster by providing their expertise to help Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) upgrade their skills set as the sector continues to face disruptions. At the same time, the partnership will see more platforms being created for PMEs to build and extend their networks and connect with like-minded professionals within the industry. The expanded ecosystem will also open the gateway for those who aspire to join the sector.
Today, the financial services and insurance sector employs approximately 200,000 employees of which about 80 per cent of workers employed in the financial services sector are PMETs. The ongoing disruptions brought forth by rapid digitisation and automation will see many PMEs’ jobs being affected. Mr Tay said, “The financial sector, while undergoing major technological disruptions, is expected to grow annually under the Financial Services Industry Transformation Map (ITM). It is critical for us to help our financial sector workforce acquire new skills so they remain competitive in both global and local markets. We have been working with the tripartite partners to reskill our workers whose jobs are at risk, by enrolling them in professional programmes. The Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) will help these workers take on new roles as the sector undergoes transformation. The financial institutions have committed to train more than 800 employees under the PCPs to date.”
Helping workers to upskill and reskill
In a recent collaboration, the Singapore FinTech Association has co-developed the FinTech Talent Programme together with the NTUC, with the aim to help finance professionals transit into FinTech, a major disruptor to the banking and finance sector as companies use technologies to make financial services more effective and efficient. Through this initiative, the Cluster can reach out to the PMEs in the sector to help them reskill and upskill as they ride the waves of digital disruptions. Another collaboration that is underway is the rolling out of the FinTech Foundation Programme. FinTech Foundation Programme aims to provide workers with a glimpse into the FinTech sector so they are able to better appreciate the nature of and careers in FinTech before they progress to the next level of the FinTech Talent Programme eventually.
Mr Vivek Kumar, Assistant Director-General, NTUC, added, “The financial sector is experiencing widespread digital disruption today. By working closely with our partners in the UA ecosystem, we can facilitate cross-sector learnings to keep our financial sector talents future-ready and create relevant programmes to meet the evolving needs of the sector. The FinTech Talent Programme and the FinTech Foundation Programme together with the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) are excellent examples of how we can cater to the needs of our professionals. This journey must continue to match the pace of change in the sector.”
The Financial Industry Career Advisory Centre (FiCAC), which has been in operation since April 2016, will be incorporated into the newly formed IBF Career Centre with effect from July 2018. The centre will continue to provide a comprehensive suite of services including setting competency standards, promoting skills development, career advisory, job matching and placements. FiCAC has successfully placed more than 240 job seekers into different jobs and reached out to over 3100 PMEs since its operation.
To better protect workers as the industry undergoes transformation and restructuring, the Government has also announced that the Fair Consideration Framework will be expanded to cover more employers and jobs in its bid to give Singaporeans fair access to more high-quality jobs. The impending change to the Employment Act is also timely as PMEs earning S$4,500 and above will also be better protected come April 2019.
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