Model ID: c64e2f99-d5b9-4a92-8920-89163d519070
Sitecore Context Id: c64e2f99-d5b9-4a92-8920-89163d519070;
~ The youth wing of NTUC has seen demand for peer-to-peer support with 675 peer supporters in more than 70 companies across various industries ~
~ Through NTUC Youth Taskforce’s engagements with more than 2,000 youth so far, one out of 10 youth do not feel sufficiently prepared to step into the workforce ~
Demand continues to increase for peer-to-peer support at the workplace
On World Mental Health Day, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC)’s youth wing, Young NTUC, will organise a focus group discussion around the topic of mental well-being solutions with employers, the youth and young working adults. The closed-door focus group discussion titled, “LIT (Learning Is Triggered) Safe Space Conversations” will be held today at The Art Room, Starbucks Singapore Flagship Store at Jewel Changi Airport, a venue sponsored by Starbucks Coffee Singapore. More than 30 participants such as students between 18 and 25 years old; young working adults between 26 and 35 years old; and senior management and HR practitioners, will share their perspectives on mental well-being initiatives at the workplace. Participants will also share their views and receptiveness toward current mental well-being solutions at the workplace and what they hope to see in the future.
In October 2021, Young NTUC introduced a Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) Certified Training in Peer-to-Peer Mental Well-being Support @ Work, to equip working adults with peer support and psychological first aid skills. This was developed in partnership with NTUC LearningHub and its training partner, Singapore Anglican Community Services. To date, Young NTUC has trained 675 peer supporters of all ages. Eight percent of peer supporters are 20 to 29 years old, 41 per cent are 30 to 39 years old and 51 per cent are 40 years old and above. This suggests that there is a growing interest amongst all age groups in bettering mental well-being. The peer supporters are also in more than 70 companies across various industries, with higher participation from the Food Services, Energy & Chemical, Education and Construction industries.
Through their experiences and feedback, this network of trained peer supporters shared that there were challenges faced when providing peer support. It was shared that more buy-in from the management to incorporate mental well-being practices would be beneficial. Peer supporters felt that there was a need for more peer support recognition to reach out to more of their peers. It was also agreed that conversations around mental well-being remain a taboo topic in the workplace. Peer supporters also felt that more training and practice are needed as they were concerned with how they can better manage and reduce negativity and pressure they felt after providing assistance to their peers. This suggests the need for more discussions with employers to find out their considerations and challenges when implementing mental well-being practices.
To further understand these considerations and challenges, Young NTUC will be sharing these insights during the LIT Safe Space Conversations with participants. This is to find out how the peer-to-peer support initiative can be better implemented and whether there are any other suggestions or challenges when implementing mental well-being initiatives or programmes. Young NTUC aims to train up to 1,000 peer supporters by March 2023.
Young NTUC Executive Secretary Wendy Tan, said, “We are thankful for the feedback gathered from peer supporters around how peer support should be more ubiquitous at the workplace. With our goal to train up to 1,000 peer supporters in the next six months, we hope to equip more employees, human resource and line managers with basic psychological first aid and peer support skills. Today’s discussion is to look into how we can provide support and resources to help companies establish better mental well-being support in the workplaces. To set the stage, Young NTUC encourages unionised companies to embark on efforts to implement better mental well-being practices.”
Poor work-life balance, long working hours, heavy workload remain top work stressors for youth
To also understand the need for more fruitful mental well-being support in the workplace and to improve on its peer-to-peer support initiative, Young NTUC embarked on a study with 1,000 respondents between 18 and 35 years old.
In January 2022, the Young NTUC survey was conducted to measure the impact of mental health and well-being of employees since the onset of COVID-19. The study was also aimed at identifying and addressing the current gaps in workplace mental health and well-being strategies. The survey was targeted at young working adults, excluding full-time students and national servicemen, homemakers and the unemployed, to fully understand their challenges faced within the workplace.
Based on findings from the survey, more than two in five (40 per cent) respondents sighted work stressors such as poor work-life balance, long working hours, heavy workload and blurred lines between work and personal life, to be primary stressors at work.
42 per cent of the respondents also disagree that there is sufficient mental well-being support in their workplace. 62 per cent of respondents agree that peers at work can provide adequate mental well-being support and advice.
Other findings suggest that the top three industries that young working adults have reported experiencing high levels of stress are the professional services industry (50 per cent), manufacturing (45 per cent) as well as health and social services (41 per cent). (Please see Annex A for more details)
Through these insights, Young NTUC will be working on improving its peer-to-peer support programme by providing more resources and support for peer supporters as well. Young NTUC will also look at assessing the impact of its peer supporters across industries.
NTUC Youth Taskforce continues engaging youth to understand their challenges in mental well-being as they enter the workforce
Ahead of the LIT Safe Space Conversations discussion, there will be insights shared with participants to solicit feedback on how youth should also be better supported as they step into the workforce and to see what types of support for mental well-being in the workplace that youth want.
This is to be further solidified based on findings from NTUC Youth Taskforce’s ongoing survey. More than 2,000 youth had responded on the survey so far and shared that the top four areas they worry most about are work-life balance (20.4 per cent), being able to adapt at work (15.9 per cent), being able to decide on their career path without being limited by others’ expectations (11.4 per cent) and being happy in the organisation’s work environment or culture (11.2 per cent). Out of these 2,000 youth who responded, about one in ten do not feel sufficiently prepared to step into the workforce (11 per cent).
In the next few months, Young NTUC will be engaging more than 1,000 youth through upcoming focus group discussions at ITE colleges, polytechnics and universities. This is to better understand if there is a diversity of the youth’s views and receptiveness towards various possible mental well-being solutions, such as having more peer supporters of mental well-being, and setting up a mental well-being committee in the workplace.
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) Desmond Choo, who is Young NTUC’s Advisor and the NTUC Youth Taskforce’s Chairman, said, “The insights we have gathered so far on the challenges youth face around mental well-being have been forthcoming. In response to the recommendations youth have shared, we are looking into developing specific initiatives to address the unique needs of these youth, who are transitioning to their next stage of life. Mental well-being is not the only area of support we are looking into, but we will also look at addressing their career planning concerns and financial plans. We hope the youth will continue to share more of what they want out of their work and life as our engagements continue.”
NTUC Youth Taskforce’s upcoming engagements
As part of the NTUC Youth Taskforce’s engagement strategy, the roving Youth Hub consists of a series of interactive elements to provide youths with useful career advice and tips. These include learning about their employment rights, career profiling tests, and receiving career advice to boost them in their professional journeys. The interactive elements were curated and designed based on continual engagements that Young NTUC had over the years to understand youths’ needs and concerns. Youths are also able to make virtual appointments with a list of career mentors from across 23 industries to get views and advice on career and job matters.
The NTUC Youth Taskforce, which falls within the larger-scale movement #EveryWorkerMatters Conversations, engaged ITE College Central students from 14 to 15 September and Singapore Institute of Management Global Education (SIMGE) students from 29 to 30 September. The taskforce also conducted other dialogue sessions and focus group discussions with young freelancers, social workers and individuals from self-help groups. NTUC Youth Taskforce will also be organising several focus group discussions with students from Institutes of Higher Learning and members of the public in the month of October and November. (Please see Annex B for upcoming engagements in October and November).
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