SINGAPORE: The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is calling for more financial support for company-led training programmes over the next five years, ahead of the annual Budget that will be unveiled next Tuesday (Feb 18).
This comes as a recent NTUC survey showed that one in three Singaporeans are concerned about their job security in the following three months.
A World Economic Forum report also showed that 70 per cent of Singapore’s workforce will need to undergo upskilling or reskilling by 2032, while 60 per cent of Singapore firms identified skills gaps as barriers to their business transformation efforts.
“NEEDLE-MOVING INITIATIVE”
During a media session on Thursday, NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng reiterated calls by the labour movement for further government funding for the Company Training Committee (CTC) grant, which helps firms transform their business in order to retain and recruit staff.
Since the grant was launched in 2022, 85 per cent of the initial S$100 million (US$75 million) has been used for approved projects to support about 7,000 workers.
Mr Ng said “anything significant” in terms of additional funding would be “useful”, though he did not give a specific figure.
He had first called for more government funds last month at a jobs fair organised by NTUC.
Calling the CTC grant a “needle-moving initiative”, Mr Ng said NTUC and employers have “done good work to promote workers’ wages (and) workers’ employability, in conjunction with better businesses”.
“Productivity gains have allowed workers to have, on average, 5 per cent wage increases over the annual increments. And this is not just for blue collar workers, but also for PMEs (professionals, managers and executives),” he added.
“So, we hope that the government can support the CTC grant, so that we can scale the efforts on the ground.”
Job placements for PMEs and skilled technicians by NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) almost doubled from 8,800 in 2023 to 17,000 last year, said NTUC in an update.
Similarly, the percentage of PME jobseekers who sought help from e2i increased from 45 to 61 per cent between the last quarter of 2023 and the same period last year.
MENTORSHIP PILOT
NTUC also said on Thursday that it will pilot a scheme called the Company Mentorship Circle, in efforts to connect workers with mentors for skills and career guidance.
Under the initiative, unionised firms will be able to tap 1,200 mentors and experienced industry leaders in the NTUC Mentors Network.
This will kick off with companies under the Healthcare Services Employees’ Union, ST Engineering Staff Union and United Workers of Electronics and Electrical Industries.
More details of when the pilot will begin and how long it will run for will be released in due course.
Moving forward, Mr Ng told reporters that he hopes to work with the government and employers to chart Singapore’s growth.
He reaffirmed the labour movement’s commitment to enhance job security and career development for workers, especially PMEs.
“NTUC will work with our tripartite partners to put many of these programmes in place. In the ultimate scheme of things, in an uncertain world, we are looking forward in the Budget also for the government to share what may be the growth strategies for Singapore,” he said.
“(This is) so that tripartite partners can rally behind those policies and give us the best chance to have a robust economy with thriving businesses, so that our workers can have a good livelihood.”
