By Fawwaz Baktee and Ryan Chan
Some 3,600 junior executives and unionised employees will benefit from United Overseas Bank’s (UOB) reinvestment of the $3.8 million received from the Government’s Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) through its Wage Credit Employee Development initiative (WCEDI).
This was announced at UOB’s WCEDI launch on 8 April 2015 at the Suntec City Convention Hall.
Working with NTUC LearningHub (LHUB), the initiative aims to equip employees with lifelong skills and knowledge focussing on innovation, mastery and leadership.
Employees who qualify for the initiative are able to choose from a variety of courses ranging from productivity and innovation to service excellence, IT skills and personal grooming courses specially designed by LHUB.
UOB Head of Group Human Resources Jenny Wong said: “The bank prepares its people to meet the fast-changing needs of our business and customers through continuous training and development opportunities. Through this, UOB hopes to encourage employees to take a more active role in training and development needed to fulfil their career aspirations.
“… The WCEDI adds to the continuous training and development opportunities already in place. It also gives our people even greater flexibility to choose the courses that will help them to remain relevant in their fields of expertise.”
The Wage Credit Scheme was first introduced in 2013 by the Government as a three-year scheme to co-fund 40% of wage increases for Singaporean employees not earning more than $4,000. In Budget 2015 earlier this year, it was announced that the Scheme will continue for a further two years in 2016 and 2017 with the Government co-funding 20% of wage increases.
Staying Ready For Tomorrow
Speaking at the launch as guest-of-honour, NTUC Deputy Secretary-General (DSG) Chan Chun Sing outlined NTUC’s commitment to providing better care for workers and to work with like-minded employers such as UOB to continue growing the outreach to the PME sector.
“NTUC is starting on a journey to better take care of the PMEs within our workforce. To be the Labour Movement of tomorrow, we must make sure we take care of our workforce, from the low-wage worker, all the way to the PMEs,” said DSG Chan.
He also highlighted the importance of being future-ready, to ensure PMEs stay ahead of the competition, and that Singapore’s economy is competitive with other financial centres in the world.
“Our challenge is not about providing jobs for PMEs today. Our challenge is to make sure that tomorrow and in the years to come, our PMEs individually and collectively can command the salaries that is worthy of their skill,” he added.
Mobile Application
LHUB has also helped UOB develop the industry’s first customised mobile application that helps employees manage their own learning journey.
Through the app, UOB employees can register for training and development courses on-the-go and attend additional virtual tutorials to reinforce what they have learnt.
Source: NTUC This Week
