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Written Answer by Mr Lim Swee Say Minister for Manpower to Parliamentary Question on PCPs

Skills, training and development Statistics and publications

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1037 OF 2017 FOR THE SITTING ON 5 FEBRUARY 2018
QUESTION NO. 772 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Ms Tin Pei Ling

To ask the Minister for Manpower over the past one year (a) how many Singaporeans have undertaken mid-career switch programmes such as Professional Conversion and Place and Train; (b) of them, how many are retrenched PMETs and discouraged unemployed workers; (c) how many of them were eventually successful and secured a job; and (d) what are the reasons for those who did not get accepted into the programmes.

 
Answer

  1. Under the Adapt and Grow initiative, the Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) and Place-and-Train (PnT) programmes help PMETs and Rank and File RnF workers address job-skills mismatches respectively.
  2. PCPs provide training and salary support to help mid-career PMETs reskill, so that they can move into new and different occupations or sectors that have good prospects and opportunities for progression. Over the past one year, more than 3,300 local PMETs were placed. Among those placed, about 10% were previously retrenched or unemployed for 6 months or more i.e. Long Term Unemployed (LTU).
  3. Similarly, PnT programmes provide training and salary support to help RnF workers reskill to take on new jobs in different sectors. Last year, more than 1,800 locals were placed through these programmes. Among those placed, about 5% were previously retrenched or LTU.
  4. As both PCPs and PnT programmes are structured such that every jobseeker is hired by an employer before undergoing training, every worker on these programmes would have successfully secured a job. Applicants who are unable to secure employment and hence do not get into these programmes are being assisted through other programmes. For example, the Career Support Programme (CSP) provides salary support to encourage employers to hire mid-career PMETs who have been retrenched or are LTU. Since its inception in Oct 2015, over 1,100 PMETs have been supported through CSP, with more than 80% being LTU or retrenched at the point of placement.