About 50 companies in Singapore have signalled their support for the national SkillsFuture movement through a SkillsFuture Employers’ Pledge Ceremony.
Around 70 per cent of the companies are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and they pledged their commitment to adopt progressive HR practices that recognise skills-based career progression, provide employment opportunities and structured training pathways for all Singaporeans, support lifelong learning for existing workers and foster a culture of lifelong learning within their organisations.
A Good Initiative
Officiating the event on 20 May 2015 was Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the SkillsFuture Council, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who thanked the companies and emphasised that they were taking ownership for the sake of their workers and themselves.
“…That passion to discover yourself, to learn something new, to push your own boundaries, happens at different stages of life. And we have to work together to help everyone develop their potential in life.
"We are going to work closely together on this on a tripartite basis. I am sure we can succeed in this Singaporean way," he explained.
Be Future-Ready
Also present at the ceremony was NTUC Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) Patrick Tay.
"The SkillsFuture initiative is going to be a journey for Singapore and Singaporeans to grow together and be future-ready. All of us play an important role, not just Government , individuals, workers and unions but most importantly Employers to support their employees to up-skill, deep-skill, multi-skill and second-skill," wrote ASG Tay in a Facebook posting.
He urged employers to support their employees for training and lifelong learning whether job-related or not to stay future-proof.
Source: NTUC This Week
