The National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC) Job Security Council (JSC) was first announced by NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng in February 2020, to help improve the matching of workers and professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) before they are retrenched or displaced, into jobs to minimise the duration of unemployment.
Top hiring vacancies hail from sectors such as Public Service, Built Environment, Logistics and Manufacturing. In-demand roles include pre-school teachers, site supervisors, engineers (IT, Manufacturing), cleaners, security officers and operators (Manufacturing). Majority of the workers are being placed into essential services with temporary secondment roles. NTUC JSC, which is operationalised by NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), will continue to enlist more companies together with unions to plug the recruitment needs of the in-demand roles from both public and private sectors. Most of the workers are being placed into essential services or to front COVID-19 efforts especially in sectors: Consumer Services - baristas, crew (kitchen and service) and retail assistants; Transport and Logistics - packers, bus captains and drivers; Public Service - community management executives, swab assistants, safe distancing ambassadors.
Companies and associations that received help from NTUC JSC
In addition to minimising employment downtime, NTUC JSC can help companies stabilise manpower needs by mobilising workers from firms with excess manpower to needy firms with labour shortages and through the process, pilot new, faster and better ways of job matching. NTUC JSC can also partner companies to identify relevant support schemes from the government, map out training plans to upskill or reskill workers or recommend ways to improve value creation of workers and pilot solutions in job redesign to improve workflow and productivity. To extend their reach, NTUC JSC has also been working with trade associations to provide targeted help to sectors, especially those that have been most affected by COVID-19.
Mr Ang Wee Seng, Executive Director of Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association said, “SSIA members find the strategies by NTUC Job Security Council such as temporary secondment and quick matching of workers through Telegram especially useful in this time when the industry is still actively hiring. Our members are working closely with NTUC JSC and e2i to see how to match workers with skills in Aerospace and plug them into the Semiconductor industry.”
Mr Aaron Lim, Group HR Director of Park Hotel Group said, “Our team members have always been integral to our business and it matters to us that they feel supported and cared for, especially during these tough times. So even as travel is grounded to a halt currently, we are glad that we can avail to them interim jobs through our partnerships with e2i and NTUC Job Security Council. Keeping an open mind to opportunities that are different to their usual day jobs, these team members have shown adaptability and resilience - the very values we embrace and of importance to weather this storm together.”
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During this challenging period, the key focus for the Government and NTUC is to protect workers’ jobs and secure their livelihoods. As such, NTUC JSC will support the National Jobs Council. It will do so by gathering more jobs across sectors, understanding on ground what are the challenges and supporting through career and training advisory for new graduates, mid-career workers and Singaporeans from all walks of life. NTUC JSC will also tap on its member companies, tripartite partners’ networks and schemes to reach out to workers with jobs and training opportunities.
Mr Ng Chee Meng, Secretary-General of NTUC said, “As Singapore reopens our economy, the next six to 12 months will be especially challenging and crucial. While job losses will be more pronounced, NTUC will leverage the foundation of trust between the tripartite partners and tap on the Labour Movement network to increase and accelerate our efforts to preserve jobs, match workers to jobs and create jobs. With these initial successes, we hope to encourage more companies to come onboard the network so that they can get the necessary help, be able to tap on the support schemes available and together with our unions, tackle manpower challenges during this period of time. Ultimately, all that NTUC JSC is doing is to support the National Jobs Council and eventually, bring these new job opportunities to the ground, to our workers.”
NTUC JSC Conference on 3 July 2020
To discuss how Singapore companies and workforce can build up their capabilities and immunity by upskilling, reskilling and re-purposing in preparation for a rebound of the economy, e2i and Human Capital Singapore (HCS) organised the NTUC JSC Conference that registered 350 individuals. The virtual event which took place on 3 July 2020 brought together representatives from the unions, Government, industry and thought leaders in academia to discuss the opportunities and challenges for the Singapore economy and workforce post-COVID-19.
At the virtual conference, NTUC Secretary-General gave a keynote address on “Building a Resilient Ecosystem in Turbulent Times” and shared his thoughts on what workers and businesses must do to overcome this challenging period.
Participating on a panel discussion on “How will Public-Private-People Sectors help overcome the challenges of businesses folding-up and loss of jobs, and prepare for economic recovery?” was e2i’s CEO, Mr Gilbert Tan. He shared that, “It may not be intuitive at first, but to beat unproductive downtime, commitment to the gainful employment of workers is essential. it takes sectors, trade associations to contribute sustainably. When some companies inevitably have to let go of workers, e2i, together with the unions, will step in through NTUC JSC to mobilise the excess resources to those companies that need them. If training is needed for the job or new role, JSC will see to it that we plug the gaps as quickly as possible. Through the power of tripartism and a collaborative ecosystem, I am confident that we can grow a strong Singaporean core to enable workers, companies, sectors and the nation to rebound from the pandemic faster.”
Please visit https://nationalconference.hcs.com.sg/#programme or refer to Annex A for more information.
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