Attracting Polytechnic Graduates to Work in Banking and Finance Sector and Take-up of Places in Apprenticeship Programmes for Them

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Prime Minister with regard to the job prospects for polytechnic graduates in the banking and finance sector (a) what are the available programmes to support internships and apprenticeships; and (b) what are the available skills upgrading programmes for further career progression.

Sir, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched the Polytechnic Talent for Finance Scheme last month to encourage financial institutions to train and hire more polytechnic students and graduates. There are three tracks under the scheme.

First, the Internship Track seeks to encourage financial institutions to train polytechnic students as interns and hire them upon graduation.

Second, the Apprenticeship Track aims to provide polytechnic graduates an alternative pathway to acquire further skills to progress in their careers.

And third, the Sponsorship Track encourages polytechnic graduates to stay in their jobs in the financial sector while they further their studies.

MAS targets to increase the number of polytechnic graduates who take on full-time permanent jobs in the financial sector by more than 80%, from about 160 entering the sector in 2021 to at least 300 by 2025. While the financial sector already offers many internships to polytechnic students, there are much fewer apprenticeship programmes.

MAS aims for the Apprenticeship Track to contribute the bulk of the target increase in the number of polytechnic graduates in the sector, or rather entering the sector. As financial institutions develop familiarity with the calibre of polytechnic talent and as polytechnic graduates gain a better appreciation of the opportunities in the financial sector, they can become a more significant source of talent for the sector over time.

After polytechnic graduates join the financial sector, they can tap upskilling opportunities available to all financial sector professionals under MAS’ Talent and Leaders in Finance Programme. This programme includes a wide range of training courses subsidised under the Financial Training Scheme and Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) Standards Training Scheme. It also includes job rotations that provide training and mentorship, as well as overseas postings, to help finance professionals, including polytechnic graduates, advance their careers.

Besides supporting polytechnic graduates, there are schemes to help ITE students gain a head start in their careers. These include ITE's Work-Study Diplomas, which place students in jobs related to their discipline of study, while pursuing their diplomas. The Infocomm Media Development Authority's (IMDA) industry-led TechSkills Accelerator for ITE and Polytechnic Alliance also equips ITE and polytechnic students and graduates with skills to take up opportunities in tech sectors upon graduation.

MAS will continually review the talent development schemes, and engage the financial sector and higher education institutions, to meet the financial sector's manpower needs and create good opportunities for our people.

Sir, I thank the MAS for coming up with this scheme to enhance the career development of our polytechnic graduates. Sir, I have two questions for the Minister of State. Firstly, I would like to ask the Minister of State, what is MAS' assessment on the receptiveness of this apprenticeship programme by both the students and employers so far?

My second question is, I understand that in the early years, when we started as a financial centre, many of the international FIs, the banks like JP Morgan and UBS, they do take in non-graduates as trainees and many of them moved up to senior positions, including becoming CEOs of banks. So, I would like to ask the Minister of State, whether today, do our financial institutions still see the polytechnic graduates as a key source of talent pool and to develop long-term career plans for these polytechnic graduate employees to progress in the organisations?

I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. Today indeed, many polytechnic students are keen to pursue degrees instead of entering the workforce, because they perceive a university degree as essential to securing a good job and also to progress in their careers.

On the employers' end, few of these employers offer apprenticeship programmes – like the one that I mentioned, the MAS scheme – particularly in the financial sector. Employers may not be rolling out these apprenticeship schemes as they are unfamiliar with the polytechnic talent pool, unfamiliar with the calibre of the polytechnic students and also face difficulties in hiring them or attracting them into the sector upon graduation.

With the roll-out of this scheme, the Polytechnic Talent for Finance apprenticeship track, we hope to correct this misperception that a university degree is a prerequisite for a good job and a career progression in the financial services sector. This apprenticeship track incentivises financial institutions to develop these kinds of apprenticeship programmes that provide a clear path for deserving apprentices to be placed in university graduate-equivalent roles upon completion. We really hope that the introduction of the scheme will spur our FIs to develop more apprenticeship programmes for polytechnic graduates and create a new path for polytechnic students to take on as an alternative to pursue a university degree.

I was at the launch of this scheme. I was speaking to both the financial institutions including JP Morgan as well as Allianz and many others and also the students there and the feedback was: one, that they are very keen to hire polytechnic students because the financial sector is hiring and the financial sector is a very dynamic sector; the second is that the students are also very open to taking on these  internships and apprenticeships; and for those who are working already in the financial sector, who want to take on or to do a degree, the third track helps them to do so.

So, in speaking to JP Morgan and others, I think this is a scope that we want to expand to allow for the financial sector to take on a bigger talent pool. I am confident that our polytechnic talent is able to fulfil that.

I thank the Minister of State. Besides the Polytechnic Talent for Finance Scheme, are there other initiatives MAS is working on to increase hiring of polytechnic graduates into the financial sector?

Sir, MAS as well as the IBF will be organising round tables between FIs and polytechnics to strengthen the industry and academia collaborations in areas such as tightening the relevance to curriculum and to industry; what industry requires, industry's needs, and also enhancing the learning outcomes of internships.

In addition, we are also going to make sure that there are going to be coordinated outreach efforts, such as career fairs and financial industry showcases to raise awareness and increase indeed, the students' awareness and interest in the financial sector. To give the Member an example, is the industry's showcase held at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic on 24 April which I attended in conjunction of the launch of the scheme, where financial institutions make presentations to polytechnic students and set up booths to interact with students.

MAS is also exploring having finance professionals conduct regular sharing sessions on campus to increase students' understanding of developments and to work in the sector.

So, if you are a polytechnic student and you are interested in the financial sector, please look out for the myriad of opportunities available.