By Ryan Chan
Ensure workers remain competitive and are well equipped with the necessary skills for the future – that was the message that NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Chan Chun Sing shared at the U Associate Convention 2016 on 18 February 2016.
The U Associate Convention 2016 saw four new associations partnering NTUC: Direct Marketing Association of Singapore; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; Association of Psychotherapists and Counsellors (Singapore); and Singapore Association of Administrative Professionals.
This brings the number of U Associates to 26, double from the 12 on board at 2015’s convention. Their inclusion also now means 16 professional sectors are covered by the programme, such as engineering, human resource and information technology.
The U Associate Programme, which was launched in 2011, is NTUC’s ecosystem of partnerships with professional associations across various sectors that will see industry-specific sectoral programmes to develop career and skills progression plans for professionals, managers and executives (PMEs).
“In a very rapidly changing world, it’s not just about how much you know, it is also about how fast you learn and the people you know. If we can equip our PMEs with that, we will be putting them in good stead,” said SG Chan.
Continued Growth
The message SG Chan shared at the convention echoed his sentiments expressed on a recent blog post on how Singapore’s ‘unusual’ Labour Movement bucks the worldwide trend of unions’ declining membership numbers and relevance.
Many foreign multinational corporations are taken aback by our approach to working together and caring for the PMEs, he said on the blog.
U Associate Leaders’ Circle
At the convention, a new U Associate Leaders’ Circle (UALC) was also announced. Made up of top leaders of the U Associate partners, the UALC will be the first of its kind in promoting collaboration between different sectors to understand issues affecting each industry.
The quarterly meetings will see the UALC meet with SG Chan to identify skill gaps in the market and develop sectoral progression programmes. This will also open up the possibility of cross-sector collaborations. The UALC will also play the role of consultative partner to NTUC on matters concerning PMEs.
Mr Vivek Kumar, NTUC Director of U Associate and U Future Leaders, said: “We are concerned for PMEs and want them to be future-ready. That is why the Labour Movement is growing our U Associate ecosystem so that we can collaborate across sectors and create forward-looking skills progression pathways which are designed and delivered by practitioners.”
For more information on U Associate, visit www.ntuc.org.sg/uassociate.
Source: NTUC This Week
