PROFESSIONALS, MANAGERS, EXECUTIVES AND TECHNICIANS (PMETS)

PROFESSIONALS, MANAGERS, EXECUTIVES AND TECHNICIANS (PMETS):

(Employment opportunities): 3.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how many Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) have been re-employed in the last 9 months; and (b) what efforts has the Ministry taken to create fresh employment opportunities for displaced PMETs, especially in this period of economic growth and recovery.

4.

Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for Manpower (a) if there are any existing schemes or future plans to assist Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) who are bankrupts and unemployed, in job placement; and (b) if there are measures in place to minimise possible discrimination against them in their bid to look for a job, both in the private and public sector.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower (Mr Hawazi Daipi) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, Sir, may I take Question Nos. 3 and 4 together?

Mr Speaker: Yes.

**Mr: Hawazi Daipi: ** Sir, in tandem with the robust employment growth, the prospects for residents retrenched from PMET jobs in 2006 were much better

Column: 1353

compared to the three years before. 83% of the residents retrenched from PMET jobs in the first six months of 2006 were re-employed by September 2006, ie, within nine months of retrenchment. This is a significant improvement compared to 2004 and 2005 where the re-employment rates were 67% and 71% respectively. The re-employment rate for PMETs as at September 2006 is also higher than the overall resident re-employment rate of 76% for the same period. Furthermore, the re-employment prospects for retrenched PMETs aged 50 and above had improved dramatically from 54% in 2004, 61% in 2005 to 86% in 2006.

Unemployment of PMETs has also fallen. The resident unemployment rate for PMETs has declined steadily from a high of 4.1% in June 2003 to 2.9% in June 2006. This is much lower than the overall resident unemployment rate of 4.5% in June 2006 and 3.6% in December 2006.

Nevertheless, we recognise that some PMETs may need help to find a job. Between January and December last year, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) assisted some 3,800 PMETs to obtain employment through its Public Employment System (PES) and funded some 17,000 PMETs to upgrade their skills via SDF-funded programmes.

In addition, other PMET-targeted programmes have been effective in helping many PMETs find work opportunities in wholly new career areas. For example, since 2003, more than 400 PMETs have been trained and put onto new career pathways in nursing and radiography, under the Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme (SMCP) in Healthcare. A new programme introduced last year, called the Property Officer Re-skilling Programme, has helped 61 workers holding at least a diploma qualification to be retrained as property officers. 184 workers were placed and trained for the

Column: 1354

marine and maritime industry, under the ASMI Super V programme in 2006. However, it is ultimately the buoyant economy that will create demand for PMETs, thus allowing them to find employment.

MOM's records on complaints of discrimination in hiring practices do not indicate that bankruptcy is a significant factor of discrimination. In view of this, it is not necessary to have special programmes for job seekers who are bankrupt. In any case, any programme that is targeted specially at persons who are bankrupt is likely to stigmatise them further.

Nevertheless, MOM recognises the importance of fair employment practices in the workplace. It adopts a promotional and educational approach towards employers, working with the tripartite partners. A key vehicle is the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP), which is headed by Mdm Halimah Yacob from NTUC and Mr Bob Tan from SNEF. Amongst other initiatives in its first year, TAFEP has gotten more than 300 companies and organisations to endorse a Pledge of Fair Employment Practices, and has recently partnered Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) to ensure that all job advertisements carried on SPH publications conform to the Tripartite Guidelines on Non-Discriminatory Job Advertisements.

Dr Lam Pin Min (Ang Mo Kio): Sir, bankruptcy under the law of Singapore is not an offence and, if there is a Yellow Ribbon Project to help reintegrate ex-convicts into society, I believe there is a need for a similar initiative to give undischarged bankrupts a helping hand to move on in life. May I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary if there are any undischarged bankrupts who are employed in the civil service and, if so, how many are there and what are their areas of work?

Column: 1355

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Sir, I do not have the information. Indeed, undischarged bankrupts who are unemployed, just like any other unemployed, can reskill themselves in other areas which they may want to learn, to further improve their re-employment capabilities.

Sir, I do not have with me the information on the employment or re-employment of undischarged bankrupts in the civil service.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang): Sir, whilst it is heartening to hear that 83% of them are re-employed after nine months, may I know what is their pay like? Do they get back their original pay or is it much lower, compared to what they used to receive?

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Sir, salary gains by employees depend very much on the nature of work done, so we do not have the figures about their salary. We also do not have information about whether they are employed in better jobs or jobs which are paying less, compared to their previous salary.

Mr Siew Kum Hong (Nominated Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, given that the Ministry does not track the salary figures, would the Ministry consider asking the Workforce Development Agency to track the information between the jobs that were lost and the new jobs in which they were re-employed, so that, moving forward, the Government would have a much better idea of what kind of re-employment these PMETs are getting?

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Sir, we can consider that suggestion.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have three supplementary questions for SPS.

My first question is, with the improved rate of employment among the retrenched PMETs, would the Ministry consider

Column: 1356

actually tracking the retention of these re-employed PMETs? If not for anything, it is at least an exercise to gauge how long these re-employed PMETs will stay in employment.

My second question is that in a globalised economy, we know that retrenchment among PMETs is going to be a recurring problem, even when the economy is good. In view of this, what other kind of long-term programmes will the Ministry be looking into for the PMETs, especially also for PMETs in the service sector?

The third question I have has to do with the fact that PMETs represent a very rich pool of talents. If we do not capitalise on this talent pool, it is really a waste. Many of the skills and experience may be in demand outside Singapore, but PMETs may not be able to tap these opportunities on their own. Therefore, what plans does the Ministry have in terms of aggregating the talents and experience of these displaced PMETs in order to help them to secure overseas assignments?

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Sir, I have mentioned earlier some of the programmes organised by WDA and its related agencies for PMETs. We already have programmes covering 14 industry sectors - retail, hotel and accommodation services, logistics, healthcare, marine and maritime engineering services, and so on. These are programmes which are designed to help PMETs to gain new skills, so that they are even more employable, whether for their future use or when they are seeking re-employment. We can always expand and look for new areas in which we can help PMETs to gain new skills. But I want to report that we have actually a lot of programmes already running for PMETs.

Sir, on whether we can help Singaporean PMETs to find jobs overseas, our

Column: 1357

best knowledge lies locally. I think we have a good knowledge about local employment needs, skill needs and employment demand. It is best to focus our attention on the local market and help our PMETs and job-seekers alike to look at areas in which there are demands for workers.

As to securing overseas assignments for PMETs, as more Singapore companies operate overseas, we can widen the network and find out whether there are employment opportunities in Singapore-owned companies overseas.