A NEW Government-sponsored training programme has been expanded, in a move to help minimise the layoffs that are set to rise after Chinese New Year.
The Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur), which pays for part of the salary of a worker on training, will now cover 800 courses, instead of 150.
With five times more courses, the Government hopes Spur will coax more employers to retrain, not retrench, their workers during the current slump.
The extra courses will also help out-of-work Singaporeans gain relevant skills for new jobs in such growth sectors as health care and hotels, said Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday when he made the announcement.
He foresees the export-oriented industries as being worst hit in the recession, especially manufacturing and electronics.
For workers, the impact will be felt at all levels. 'But compared to the previous recessions, we'll see more PMETs affected,' he added, referring to professionals, managers and executives.
Mr Gan was speaking to reporters at the end of a ministerial visit to the Ascott Centre for Excellence in Newton, a training centre for hotel industry workers.
His announcement was welcomed by jobseekers at the centre, including Mr Jason Lee, 25, who lost his job in October when his IT company shut down.
Mr Lee, who holds a national ITE certificate (Nitec) in mechatronics engineering, said: 'I've applied for several dozen sales and services jobs, but no luck.
'I want now to go into the hotel industry, which seems to be coming up with the opening of the integrated resorts.'
Some 10 hotels with a total of 5,100 rooms are expected to open this year.
The new courses on Spur's list include all Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) courses, Nitec courses and polytechnic diploma programmes for adults.
In all, the $600-million Spur programme will pay for some 220,000 training places over two years.
The latest expansion of Spur is the second since its launch in December, when it was only for courses at approved centres.
About a fortnight ago, in-house training programmes were also included.
But the funding for them will be given on a case-by-case basis, said the Manpower Ministry and the Workforce Development Agency yesterday.
In addition, such companies must commit to a training package that includes Spur-approved courses, and to retaining workers in line with the recent guidelines on managing excess manpower, they added. These include having a shorter work week, flexible work schedule and flexible wages to trim costs, so that retrenchment is a last resort.
Spur will pay for two things: up to 90 per cent of the course fees and up to 90 per cent of a worker's salary but this is capped at $6.80 an hour.
Jobless workers will also be sponsored. The low-skilled will be paid $4 for every hour they are on training, and the higher-skilled, up to $1,000 a month.
So far, 120 companies have signed up to send some 4,200 workers for training.
Asked if the number was too low, Mr Gan said Spur was only a month old, and some companies needed to adjust their work processes so that workers can go for training.
He also assured Singaporeans there are jobs in such sectors as hotels and education, despite the slowing economy.
Singapore has lowered its growth forecast for this year to between -2 and 1 per cent, following last year's worse-than-expected 1.5 per cent growth.
At the same time, layoffs are expected to rise way above the 6,418 reported in the first nine months of last year.
Analysts predict retrenchments will surpass the 30,000 peak in 1998, during the Asian financial crisis.
The new Spur offerings will help to ameliorate this loss of human capital, particularly in the professional and managerial groups, said labour economist Shandre Thangavelu of the National University of Singapore.
'They have very strong human capital that has to be kept intact. Expanding the range of course offerings is an excellent idea and will help ensure this.
'This enhancement also recognises the broad-based nature of this recession, which affects jobs in all sectors and at all skills levels.'
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
No comments:
Post a Comment