Resident Employment Rate for Persons Aged 25-64 with Education Qualifications below Secondary School Level

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the resident employment rate for those aged 25 to 64 with education qualifications below secondary school level; and (b) what are the initiatives to help those in this category who are currently unemployed to find a job.

Mrs Josephine Teo: The employment rate for residents 4 aged 25 to 64 with below secondary qualifications was 67% in 2017 5 , higher than most OECD countries. Of the remaining 33% who were not in employment, 30%-points were outside the labour force (i.e. not looking for a job), mainly due to family responsibilities and health-related reasons, and the remaining were unemployed (i.e. looking for a job). In 2017, the annual average unemployment rate of 2.6% for residents with below secondary qualifications was lower than the overall resident annual average unemployment rate of 3.1%.

There is a wide range of support under the Government’s Adapt and Grow initiative to assist unemployed jobseekers, including those with below secondary qualifications.

(a) To address “missed matches”, Workforce Singapore’s (WSG) Careers Connect and NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) centres provide a suite of career matching services that caters to the different needs of each jobseeker.

(b) To address mismatches in skills or expectations, there are programmes such as Place and Train and Career Trial to help jobseekers secure a job.

Through the Adapt and Grow initiative, the Government placed about 2,500 jobseekers with below secondary qualifications into new jobs and careers in 2017.

Note(s) to Question No(s) :

4 Residents refer to Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents.

5 Data from Comprehensive Labour Force Survey, Manpower Research & Statistics Department, MOM.