The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) announced that it will spearhead initiatives and ramp up support for youths as they prepare to enter or have recently entered the workforce, following insights gathered from the NTUC Youth Taskforce’s (YTF) year-long engagements with youths and stakeholders. The YTF, led by Young NTUC, the youth wing of NTUC, has engaged more than 10,000 youth aged between 17 and 25. Young NTUC released the “The New Gen Worker” Report 2023, which highlighted challenges faced by youths and their concerns and aspirations in the areas of career progression, financial adequacy and mental well-being.
In a media briefing session held on 12 July 2023, NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Ng Chee Meng and Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) Desmond Choo, Chairman of the YTF and Advisor to Young NTUC, shared key findings gathered from the YTF’s engagements and details of the recommendations put up by the taskforce.
Key findings of the NTUC Youth Taskforce engagements
Since its launch in July 2022, YTF has engaged youths from various Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), including the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), polytechnics and autonomous universities through various means, including surveys, roadshows, dialogues, and focus group discussions. The taskforce has gathered their feedback, suggestions and ideas and the key findings are:
Key concerns and worries of youths today
When youths were asked how they would define personal success1 , many youths shared that they defined personal success as being content with their lives (22.0 per cent), having fulfilling relationships (16.9 per cent) and being wealthy (16.2 per cent)2.
a) Youths feared not being able to enjoy life and live comfortably (15.5 per cent), losing friendships and relationships (15.4 per cent) and achieve their life goals and aspirations (12.8 per cent) .
b) Youths’ top two financial worries were daily expenses (30 per cent), such as food and transportation, and family obligations (22.9 per cent) such as household bills3 .
c) Youths worry the most about whether they will be able to achieve work-life balance (22.5 per cent); adapt at work (17.9 per cent); and decide on their career path without being limited by the expectations of others (11.9 per cent), when stepping into the workforce4 .
Based on these findings, youths care about having time for non-work pursuits, preparing for working life and pursuing a career based on their aspirations. Despite their financial worries, they still value intangible aspects that make up the experiences of work and prefer to be content with life and have fulfilling relationships. With these findings, the YTF has identified traits of the new generation worker.
Traits of a new generation worker5
a) Recognise the importance of finances
b) Outspoken about mental well-being and health
c) Dare to pursue their desired career
With these identified traits, the NTUC YTF continued its journey to further uncover what the new generation of workers want in the workplace and any work-related concerns they might have before entering the workforce.
Work-related concerns faced by youths
a) The top three factors youths will consider before joining a company6 are:
Salary (23.3 per cent), Working Environment (16.4 per cent) and Work Arrangements (15.0 per cent).
b) Across various surveys and focus group discussions, mentorship came up as one of the top resources needed for youths to start their careers, and progress in their careers. When youths were asked to select the top three most important resources that will help them in their career progression7 , youths selected: career mentorship with industry mentors related to their area of studies (10.5 per cent), job preparation sessions with working professionals (9.7 per cent) and extra funding support for trainings and upskilling (9.1 per cent).
c) Among the youths engaged through focus group discussions8 , majority of the youths engaged perceived mental well-being support in the workplace as important (78.7 per cent) but few have seen improvements in the way workplace or society treat individuals with mental health issues.
d) Financial adequacy matters to youths. Youths want to be more financially literate9 and gain greater knowledge on investment products (32.0 per cent), saving plans (25.3 per cent), and insurance (19.3 per cent). More than 70 per cent of 2,294 youths, who responded in an online YTF survey also shared that they were keener on saving as they have set goals that they want to achieve, wanted to be able to have spare cash in case of emergencies, wanted to grow their wealth and increase their net worth.
To address the differing needs and alleviate the diverse concerns of the new generation of workers, YTF developed the following key recommendations:
NTUC to roll out key initiatives to support youths as they transit from school to work
Providing youths with greater accessibility to career mentorship10
YTF found that youths today, especially fresh entrants into the workforce, do not have many resources to access mentorship. Career mentorship consistently emerged as one of the top three resources that youths felt would be useful as they transit from school into the workforce, and as they advanced their careers.
With the increase in interest for career mentorship, YTF shared that NTUC will scale up the number of career mentors to reach 1,200 by 2025. This includes widening the sectors they come from and providing the necessary training they require. NTUC will set up mentorSHIP, an ‘NTUC Hub for Career Mentorships for Youths’, with a focus on industry mentorships and other complementary career support services.
Providing short-term work trials with workplace mentorship for freshly graduated youths through NTUC Career Starter Lab pilot11
The YTF also found that youths desire internships that are meaningful and fulfilling. Youths shared that internships gave them an opportunity to gain exposure to the work culture and environment; learn skills; receive guidance from experienced practitioners; boost their confidence; discover knowledge gaps; apply knowledge gained from school. However, there were concerns about the quality of internships they have experienced including mismatch of roles and poor communication by supervisors. To this end, NTUC calls on schools and employers to factor in students’ feedback on their internship experience and enhance the quality of students’ learning and development in subsequent runs offered by companies.
Upon graduation, to provide youths with more opportunities to seek clarity in their career navigation, NTUC launched the new NTUC Career Starter Lab (CSL) pilot12 earlier in May this year. The CSL is based on an enhanced career trial model to lend support to youths who have recently completed their National Service or have recently graduated from an Institute of Higher Learning. Since the announcement, there are more than 100 host companies, with more than 160 roles and over 900 vacancies, that have registered their interests. Eligible jobseekers can start applying for these vacancies through the Career Starter Lab portal from 1 September this year.13
More training of Mental Well-being Peer Supporters in the workplace14
In the areas of mental well-being and peer support, youths shared that mental well-being support is important for them at the workplace and that having mental well-being peer supporters in the workplace was an effective form of support for them.
As part of YTF key recommendations, Young NTUC aims to expand its network of certified peer supporters in workplaces who can foster a psychologically safe environment for colleagues in need and encourage a culture that destigmatises mental health issues at work. In 2021, Young NTUC launched the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ)-certified training in peer-to-peer mental well-being support at work to equip individuals with basic peer support and psychological first aid skills. To date, there are more than 1,000 trained peer supporters who have participated in the programme. By 2025, NTUC plans to train 2,500 peer supporters. This is to increase the number of peer supporters in various sectors so that youths can have better access to receiving peer-to-peer mental well-being support.
Launch of the new NTUC Starter membership15
Throughout the YTF’s engagements, youths shared their various concerns and needs spanning across the work, live and play aspects of their lives. To provide an integrated and holistic product designed with features to address the career, lifestyle and transitory needs of youths, NTUC will be launching the digital NTUC Starter Membership. This membership, targeted at youths aged between 18 and 25, is aimed at giving them a head start in the workforce.
NTUC to continue studying the needs and concerns of youth
At the media briefing session, NTUC SG Ng shared, “The NTUC Youth Taskforce findings have given us very useful outlook to partner youths coming into the workplace. We are humbled by the many learnings from more than 10,500 youth who have shared with us their aspirations, concerns and challenges. Now, our programmes like the new Career Mentorship Hub, pilot Career Starter Lab and NTUC Starter Membership, are initiatives that NTUC is putting on the table as a trusted partner to support our youth in kickstarting their careers and be alongside them. There are still many things that we will discover along the way and NTUC hopes to be able to partner our youth to continue to innovate and find better ways to serve them as they transition from school to work and co-create the future of work and workplace with them.”
Launched in July 2022, the YTF falls under the larger-scale campaign, #EveryWorkerMatters Conversations, which is part of NTUC’s resolve to refresh and strengthen its compact with workers.
For the full publication of the report, please visit www.yntuc.sg/ytfreport.
1 NTUC. (2023, July 13). The New Gen Worker Report 2023, Page 10
2 NTUC. (2023, July 13). The New Gen Worker Report 2023, Page 8
3 NTUC. (2023, July 13). The New Gen Worker Report 2023, Page 9
4 NTUC. (2023, July 13). The New Gen Worker Report 2023, Page 11
5 NTUC. (2023, July 13). The New Gen Worker Report 2023, Page 16 - 17
6 NTUC. (2023, July 13). The New Gen Worker Report 2023, Page 19
7 NTUC. (2023, July 13). The New Gen Worker Report 2023, Page 34
8 NTUC. (2023, July 13). The New Gen Worker Report 2023, Page 50
9 NTUC. (2023, July 13). The New Gen Worker Report 2023, Page 57
10 NTUC. (2023, July 13). The New Gen Worker Report 2023, Section 7, Career Mentorship: Guiding Youths into Work
11 NTUC. (2023, July 13). The New Gen Worker Report 2023, Section 8, Career Starter Lab Pilot: Inspired by Quality Internship Experiences
12 NTUC. (2023, April 27). NTUC to launch Career Starter Lab for Youth [Press Release]. https://www.ntuc.org.sg/uportal/news/NTUC-To-Launch-Career-Starter-Lab-For-Youth/?isSerp=true
14 NTUC. (2023, July 13). NTUC Youth Taskforce Report, Section 9, Destigmatising Mental Health in the Workplace: Peer Support
15 NTUC. (2023, July 13). NTUC Youth Taskforce Report, Section 10, Financial Concerns of Youths Entering the Workforce
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