Singapore’s aerospace industry must push on to work on its transformation and quicken the pace of technology adoption, urged NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Ng Chee Meng.
Speaking at the ST Aerospace National Day Observance Ceremony on 13 August 2018, he said he was heartened to see that ST Aerospace is moving to seize the different technologies that come with digitalisation.
ST Aerospace is currently working on using data analytics and drones to help workers with their jobs.
“ST Aerospace is challenging traditional norms and re-engineering work processes to achieve better costs and efficiency so that we can all improve,” said SG Ng.
He added that the organisation’s efforts are in line with the Aerospace Industry Transformation Map (ITM) to ensure Singapore stays at the global forefront of the aerospace industry. The Aerospace ITM was launched in January this year.
“The need for transformation is very real and very urgent. There is potential restructuring across our aerospace companies globally,” he said.
Currently, the aerospace industry employs more than 20,000 workers, and the aviation sector makes up about 3 per cent of Singapore’s GDP.
Additionally, Singapore is the world’s leading maintenance, repair and overhaul hub, and is responsible for 10 per cent of the global output.
SG Ng also urged ST Aerospace to make the ITM “real for our workers”, as the organisation rides the wave of transformation.
“While we chart the vision and the objectives, let’s work together to include training programmes to upskill our workers so they will have better job prospects in tandem with the growth of the aerospace industry. Our workers are at the core of our success, and we need them if we want to adapt, innovate and transform quickly,” he said.
He also commended both the management of ST Aerospace and union leaders in the Singapore Industrial & Services Employees’ Union (SISEU) for working together to prepare workers for the transformation.
ST Aerospace formed a taskforce in 2015 with the help of SISEU to look into redesigning jobs and reskilling mature workers. The initiative led to the implementation of more than 10 projects to help redesign jobs for over 300 mature workers in the company.
SG Ng also said that the transformation is a continuous process and that ST Aerospace and SISEU must continue to work together to improve the lives of workers and the industry.
