UNEMPLOYED RESIDENTS

UNEMPLOYED RESIDENTS: * * *

12.

Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Manpower what steps is the Government taking to reach out to long-term unemployed residents to increase their employability or to assist them in their job search.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: MOM and WDA have been working closely with the Community Development Councils (CDCs), the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), and self-help groups (SHGs) to better reach out and assist Singaporeans on their employment and training needs.

The Career Centres at the CDCs and NTUC’s e2i provide a comprehensive suite of services to help unemployed Singaporeans find jobs. For job seekers who are not job ready, career centre officers would counsel them to attend training in employability skills, so that they are able to take on suitable jobs. For those who are job ready, the career centres offer a variety of help to match them with suitable employers, including one-to-one job referrals to specific companies, targeted walk-in interviews with specific companies, and sector-based job placement exercises. This helps to address the varying needs of job seekers and employers.

In addition, since August 2006, the SHGs, with the support of WDA, have been running a CareerLink Plus (CLP) Programme which provides targeted assistance to the long-term unemployed. Under CLP’s case-management approach, job seekers are referred from the SHGs to the Careerlink Plus Centre for intensive counselling by dedicated Case Management officers who also provide after care services to help them adjust and stay in their jobs. In the first six months of 2009, the CLP centre served over 1,420 job seekers and placed 376 into jobs. Cumulatively since August 2006, the centre has served nearly 7,880 job seekers and placed over 2,100 into jobs*.

• Cumulative figures are summations of annual figures since Aug 2006 and may include double counting as some job seekers sought assistance more than once.

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