WDA Programmes for University Graduates

Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether there are plans for WDA programmes and initiatives to be extended to university graduates, in particular those who are unemployed; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider more grants and financial aid for older graduates looking to upskill themselves under the full sponsorship of professional conversion programmes.

The Minister for Manpower (Mr Lim Swee Say): Mdm Speaker, the Member asked whether the WDA programmes and initiatives can be extended to University graduates. WDA programmes and initiatives are indeed already extended to University graduates, including fresh graduates. This includes providing employment facilitation and career services, including career advisory, job fairs and resources on job search. In fact, last year, 2015, of the jobseekers assisted by the WDA and the e2i, 17% of them hold a degree qualification.

The Member also asked whether the Ministry will consider more grants and financial aids to help the older graduates to upgrade or upskill under the full sponsorship of Professional Conversion Programme (PCP).

Mdm Speaker, PMETs including degree holders can have access programmes such as the PCP, the Career Support Programme (CSP) and P-Max to help them transit to new jobs, including in the SMEs. In particular, older PMETs are already offered a higher level of career and employment support as suggested by the Member.

For example, under the PCP, companies which hire PMETs aged 40 and above will receive 90% wage support, or 20% more than those younger than aged 40, and up to a cap of $4,000 during the training, and this is on top of existing training subsidies. At the same time, the CSP is also especially designed for mid-career PMETs aged 40 and above. The Government pays between 10% and 40% of their first year's wages for matured PMETs deployed under the CSP.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): I thank the Minister for the answer. I have one supplementary question. With regard to the Professional Conversion Programme and it is across 11 industries or sectors, are there any plans to increase the cap of $4,000? Because we have increased numbers of PMETs who are older and generally, their income will probably be higher as we go on and there will be increasing numbers of PMETs who are older who would be unemployed? Are there any plans to increase the cap of $4,000?

Mr Lim Swee Say: Mdm Speaker, I thank the Member for the suggestions. He is right that for many of the matured PMETs, their salary are likely to be more than $4,000. That is the reason why besides the PCP which has been around for a few years, last year, in October, we have also introduced the CSP. Under the CSP, we are able to provide wage support for salary ranges from $4,000 to $7,000. So, in short, matured PMETs can be supported under our programmes through a combination of both the PCP and the CSP.