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Oral Answer by Minister for Manpower on Resources for Workers to Upskill or Reskill

Skills, training and development

NOTICE PAPER NO. 549 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON 26 JULY 2021

QUESTION NO. 1401 FOR ORAL ANSWER

 

MP: Ms Raeesah Khan

 

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what proportion of training resources provided by organisations such as e2i and Workforce Singapore are conducted on a flexible basis so as to allow individuals who work shift hours to upskill or reskill themselves; and (b) what are the Ministry's plans to help individuals currently holding temporary COVID-19-related roles such as safe distancing ambassadors and swabbers, to transition to permanent roles as Singapore moves towards an endemic strategy in dealing with COVID-19.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 549 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON 26 JULY 2021

QUESTION NO. 1404 FOR ORAL ANSWER

 

MP: Mr Sharael Taha

 

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) how many people are employed in COVID-19-related temporary roles such as swabbers, safe entry and temperature screeners, safe distancing ambassadors and vaccination staff; (b) whether the number of workers required for these roles will be reduced as more residents are vaccinated; (c) what is being done for these workers to prepare them for their next job; and (d) how does the Government ensure that unemployment numbers do not increase when these jobs are phased out.

 

Answer

 

  1. Since the start of COVID-19, over 15,000 workers have been placed into public sector or government-funded short-term roles under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, to support COVID-19 operations such as swabbing or quarantine operations, implementing safe management measures, and providing patient services. At some point, the demand for such roles will taper down. For the moment, however, these roles remain in demand.

     

  2. Among those placed into short-term COVID-19 job roles, about three in ten were temporarily redeployed as part of the National Jobs Council’s effort to support workers in hard-hit sectors. For example, some flight attendants from Singapore Airlines worked as Care Ambassadors in hospitals. These workers remain employees of their parent companies and most of them are expected to return to their parent companies when demand recovers.

     

  3. For the remaining workers, as well as those who are not able to return to their previous jobs due to reduced demand or who choose not to, our job matching services and ecosystem stand ready to help them. In 2020, the combined efforts of Workforce Singapore (WSG) and NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (NTUC’s e2i) collectively placed close to 55,000 workers into suitable opportunities. It is therefore not beyond the ability of this network to facilitate their job search and to help them find placements in new sectors or activities where demand is rising. This is also supported by the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI). JGI has been extended to September 2021 with eligible employers receiving support of up to $54,000 per hire. Employers who hire jobseekers who need to reskill can also tap on the career conversion programmes. These programmes provide substantial wage and training support in addition to the JGI. This year, we have catered capacity for 10,000 places in these programmes. Finally, the SGUnited Traineeships, Mid-Career Pathways and Skills programmes remain available.