Good morning,
Jeremy Ong, Chief Executive Officer of NTUC LearningHub Retail Institute,
Distinguished Guests,
Sisters and Brothers.
My congratulations to the LearningHub Retail Institute for the successful launch. This will go a long way to creating win-win possibilities for a fast-changing retail sector and in conjunction with the success of the workers that NTUC is championing.
It has been a wonderful journey that LearningHub has undertaken to forge this possibility in the retail sector to transform retail businesses and create good career prospects for our workers.
Why is this important?
As NTUC embarked on our #EveryWorkerMatters Conversation with our workers to form a new workers compact, many of them have fed back to my team and to myself that they need resources, as they are faced with a shortage of time, as well as clarity and guidance in navigating the complex changing world such as training, which is good for them. In these conversations, they have expressed that they want to upgrade their skills and that they would like to know how to upgrade their skills. In order for the workers to do this, they must know where the businesses are heading. Therefore, NTUC has embarked on key initiatives such as Company Training Committees (CTC) to engage employers to see their needs as well. To have a workers’ compact, we need to ensure that businesses have a future in the retail landscape in conjunction with workers’ interests.
I am very happy to be officiating this launch at the retail institute as this will help workers navigate the complex training spaces and find the resources, through the different grants provided by the Government for workers to upgrade and reskill themselves.
The NTUC LearningHub will be the compass in the retail sector to lend clarity and guidance for our workers so that they can seek training that can be relevant to them in the short term towards better wages, and importantly, in the long term, towards better work prospects.
On the other hand, to employers who are present here, let me assure you that NTUC LearningHub, and NTUC in its entirety, believe in forging partnerships with businesses to succeed because it is important in the retail ecosystem that your success matters. Your success matters to the economy and to the workers that NTUC champions.
In the last three years, NTUC has launched an initiative called CTC, in partnership with companies that are looking to transform their businesses with Operations Technology Roadmap to generate better business possibilities.
Labour is a critical component of any business plan, and we are stepping in to nudge the workforce towards upskilling and reskilling in relevant areas in the retail industry for the workers’ benefits. This convergence of interests of our workers and businesses will go some way to ensure a sustained ecosystem than ever before. Additionally, given the Government’s look at forging a social compact, the grants that have been given to NTUC, totalled a hundred million dollars, will allow us to move into this space together.
Tripartism in Singapore is really lending its weight to economic transformation for possibilities in the future economy. So, I urge all the employers and the union leaders who are present here to work hand in glove to forge this journey ahead.
We have a few success stories but today, let me just mention one company – OG. During the pandemic when the retail sector was hit, OG formed a Company Training Committee (CTC) with the SMMWU (Singapore Manual & Mercantile Workers' Union) to upgrade their workforce even as OG prepare for recovery post-pandemic. They developed a career development plan so that the workers can look beyond today’s ‘rice bowl’ concerns and be aware of their full career possibilities in the retail sector in the long run. This way, the workers are more assured that through their training, their career prospects in the retail sector are secured so that they can fend for themselves and make a livelihood for their families. For OG, this meant that OG managed to upgrade their workforce during the lull period to match its business model plans to its workers for business possibilities. In the midst of this, the Government has also stepped in with the necessary grants to uplift both the businesses and the workers.
The LearningHub will be a key nexus in the retail space with this setup of the Retail Institute. I hope this will be a new dawn where NTUC is a CET partner, together with the government agencies, to forge possibilities with the Retail Progressive Wage Model (PWM), to lift workers in the more challenged sectors towards better careers. With the LearningHub Retail Institute formulating different strategies in conjunction with businesses, we hope we will have that win-win formula formed.
