Future Jobs for Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs)

Mr Speaker, Sir, the PME jobs available in future will depend on the new industries that we are able to attract, our progress in restructuring existing sectors, and our efforts to maintain a diversified economy.

Firstly, the Government continues to bring in new, high value-added industries which, in turn, will create not only just quality jobs, but also well-paying jobs. Examples include aerospace engineering, interactive digital media and biomedical manufacturing. We will also at the same time help our local companies to grow and enable them, in turn, to provide good jobs.

Secondly, we encourage the restructuring of existing sectors to go up the value chain which, in turn, again, creates higher-value jobs and also better paying jobs for Singaporeans.

Thirdly, the Government maintains a diversified economy which I think is quite critical as it provides resilience not only in employment, it creates a variety of jobs that our PMEs with different skills and dispositions can aspire to. Importantly, in an increasingly volatile global economy, this will also help insulate us.

What is quite clear is that the trends are changing in terms of the structure of the economy as well as the profile. In 2001, we had about 26% of our residents and workforce being PMEs. Today, it is about 32%. Going forward, in 2030, we expect an intangible about 40%. What it shows is that there is a level of mobility. More Singaporeans are becoming better educated, better qualified, better skilled. At the same time, the economy is also progressing in the right direction.

These strategies will have to continue to be a work-in-progress as we look at how the world is adapting and how we can adjust ourselves in the process, and, therefore, to make sure we create the right type of PME jobs for the PMEs who are coming on to the market.

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Besides creating job opportunities, which is quite critical, we all know that with the level of economic growth, these jobs will take place. Good companies will be here. But importantly, we need to equip our PMEs with the required skills and nurture a strong Singaporean core of talent to fill such jobs.

A key pillar really would be a strong higher education system that prepares our students with skills relevant to current as well as future industry needs. Our Post-Secondary Education Institutions (PSEIs) work closely with industry representatives and sector champion agencies on curriculum. This is really quite important, to make sure that whatever that we are trying to prepare our students in schools for, are directly relevant in the economy and the market outside. For example, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department in the National University of Singapore (NUS) is advised by a Consultative Committee that includes industry representatives from EDB and relevant companies like StarHub, ST Engineering and Rolls Royce. With input from such committees, new courses are rolled out on a continuous basis to train young Singaporeans in the skills needed, to take on the good jobs brought in by the new industries, and this process continues.

The Government has also put in place multiple pathways in the higher education landscape to create different pockets of excellence. This creates a diverse mix of PMEs with different strengths to support the diversity in our economy. As we can see over the years, the many pathways have evolved and we will continue to work on this.

Beyond pre-employment education, another important pillar – which I think is our strength in Singapore – is to provide strong support in continuing education and training (CET) for PMEs throughout their career, meaning that education and training do not stop at the formal education years. It should continue even during their working years. In fact, this is where I think is the sharp edge of our capabilities. This allows us to adapt and to construct courses as and when the economy changes. For example, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) has put in place the Skills Training for Excellence Programme (STEP) which is aimed at helping PMEs update their skills, knowledge and expertise, so that they can remain competitive and employable. Since the launch of STEP in 2011, over 65,000 PMEs have benefited from its training programmes. About 300 STEP scholarships have also been set aside for Singaporeans, in sectors, such as aerospace, construction and retail.

It is important for CET programmes to be relevant for industries' needs. So, as explained earlier, similar platforms, such as the Industry Skills and Training Councils (ISTCs), WDA works closely with industry associations, employers, unions and other Government agencies to again understand industry's training needs so that we can tailor the courses specifically. This platform is also used to anticipate future competencies and skills. WDA has also set up an Employability Skills and Training Council (ESTC) to engage stakeholders on horizontal and employability skills needs that are relevant across the different sectors.

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Besides skills training to match industry needs, I think it is also very important for us to help to facilitate employment of our PMEs. We have launched a series of employability interventions for PMEs, including CaliberLink, which is a one-stop service point for PMEs that integrates training assistance and career services. From December 2011 to end-August 2012, CaliberLink has assisted over 2,000 PMEs through its training and career consultation services, networking events and workshops.

WDA has also collaborated with the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) to help SMEs recruit and retain PMEs through a two-year Max Talent Place-and-Train (PnT) programme. From its launch in May 2012 to end-August 2012, ASME has reached out to 400 PMEs and more than 300 SMEs. In addition, WDA is collaborating with two private employment agencies to roll out the "PME Specialist Assistance" programme to help unemployed Singaporean PMEs enhance their employability and expand their employment opportunities. Within two months of its introduction in July 2012, over 40 PMEs were referred by WDA's career centres to the programme.

Sir, in summary, growing competitive value-add businesses in Singapore is important because they would, in turn, create good PME jobs for Singaporeans. To enable Singaporeans to hold on to these jobs, we equip them with industry-relevant knowledge and skills through our pre-employment training and CET systems. This, coupled with our assistance provided by CaliberLink and other means to help and place them and to link them up with the relevant jobs, we believe, will enable us to continue to develop a strong Singaporean core in our globally competitive workforce.

I would like to thank the Minister for his comprehensive response. I have a supplementary question. As the Government in its efforts to increase places in the universities, by and by we will have more qualified graduates, PMEs in the long run. However, we also have many existing mature PMEs who may not have a chance to graduate from the universities or have a degree. Many of them aspire to have a degree as they feel that Singapore is still very paper-based. My question is: how can the Government do to help this group of mature PMEs to stay competitive in their career progression and that, in the long run, they would not be displaced? Would the Minister consider offering or increasing available study grants to these PMEs who wish or who aspire to pursue a degree?

I would like to thank the Member for her supplementary questions. The first point on whether we are overly paper-oriented, we should note that a person really does not necessarily need to be an university graduate to be successful. Those who are, even in Singapore today, technically inclined can pursue many skills-based upgrading pathways to hold on to skilled and respectable jobs, be it in the PME job sector or other skilled areas, such as associate professionals, technicians, craftsmen, tradesmen, and so on; they continue to remain important in our economy in Singapore today.

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Paper qualifications act as a signalling device. Some employers may continue to use academic qualifications, but it is really a signal of one's capabilities. Most of us would agree that there are many different indicators, for example, of the skills sets. There are other forms of certification beyond just a graduate degree qualification, such as the WSQ, your past experience, your past employers' testimonials and, ultimately, the performance in the job. This remains important, we recognise that. It would seem that many people place a lot of emphasis on paper qualifications. But I think it goes beyond that.

What it means also is that, increasingly, as we realise that more and more Singaporeans are getting better educated and better skilled, employers also do have a wider pool to choose from, and they would look at the different criteria upon which they would select their potential employees.

The concern with regard to our older PMEs, let me perhaps just quickly talk about definitions. If we look at mature PMEs, essentially those aged 40 and above, we have about 330,000 of them. For older PMEs, we have about nearly 80,000. These would be about aged 55 and above. By and large, as with the unemployment rates in Singapore as a whole, we actually do have very low unemployment rates for PMEs. However, we also do recognise that there are challenges. At the older ages, once they lose their jobs and are made redundant, they do tend to have a longer job search period before re-entering employment.

There are really a number of reasons. In fact, recently, when I visited one of the set-ups by CaliberLink and spoke to a number of the senior PMEs there who were looking for jobs, they were previously also in positions that hire employees. When I spoke to them, they also acknowledged that when they hired, they sometimes tended to favour the younger employees. There are a number of reasons. One, when you are slightly older, more mature, more experienced, you are also better skilled, more specific in your skills set. So, there might be sometimes a matching issue with some of the jobs available. At the same time, I think wage expectations could also be higher, so there might be a mismatch in expectations. There is a range of reasons as to why that takes place. I do not think it is an issue of whether it is right or wrong, but that is the way it goes.

What we do realise is that as the labour market tightens, what it means is that we do need companies to increasingly recognise that they can tap on the older workforce because they represent a pool of experienced, mature workers. Arguably, some would say that they are more stable, in terms of hanging on to the jobs and staying on with the companies. There are many different ways that we help older PMEs upgrade their skills. Earlier, I talked about STEP programme, and so on. Perhaps, just to elaborate a bit further.

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For STEP scholarships for Singaporean PMEs, up to 90% of course fees are subsidised, up to a limit. There is also really no age limit, which means that all these are available to older PMEs. MOE has also funded part-time undergraduate degrees – 55% fee subsidies for Singapore citizens pursuing their first degree. After subsidy, average fees are about $16,000 per programme and they can also apply for tuition fee loan which covers up to 90% of subsidised fees. There is also a student loan which covers up to 10% of unsubsidised fees. Taken together, it is almost close to 100% provision.

MOE bursaries are provided for needy students, although this usually would apply to younger Singapore citizens. Older Singaporeans applying for this – usually we do not find that there is a big need for this. Even though instalment plans are available on a case-by-case basis for older PMEs, this is usually not required. As mentioned earlier, mature PMEs, in fact, PMEs of all ages, can tap on CaliberLink which continues to strengthen as we build up our networks. We are also engaging private employment agencies to see how we can work better with them to support our older PMEs. The existing programmes that we talk about, in terms of training, and so on, continue to remain applicable to older PMEs.

I just have two questions for the Minister. I am aware of the STEP and CaliberLink, as well as the overall CET framework. Would the Minister consider setting up a national PME capability fund to assist PMEs, especially the mature PMEs, specifically to get into the available jobs in the market? The second question is: would the Minister consider setting up a taskforce to look into the issue of unemployed PMEs, especially the mature ones, and how to ensure that they stay being fully employed?

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank Mr Patrick Tay for his suggestions. We will continue to explore different ways to help Singaporeans to make things better. I think keeping Singaporeans employed and well-employed remains our responsibility. We will be quite open to listen to the specific suggestions that the Member may have. With regard specifically to the national PME capability fund, I would be interested to hear from him what ideas he has in that area. In terms of the task force, as mentioned earlier, we are looking at this particular sector. There is a range of assistance schemes available, whether in terms of setting up a task force or enhancing the steps that we have put in place, we are open to exploring the various possibilities. So I will be quite happy to discuss with the Member on further ideas on this front.

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