SUBSIDISED RETRAINING PROGRAMME FOR EXECUTIVES AND PROFESSIONALS

Mr Chuang Shaw Peng asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Government plans to have any subsidised retraining programme for executives and professionals, similar to the Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP) for lower-skilled workers.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: The Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP) was launched to address the issue of long-term employability of less-educated workers. Workers with less than secondary education number almost 600,000 or 40% of the present Singaporean workforce. They are particularly vulnerable because they lack adequate skills and, as a group, face the most difficulty in coping with the economic restructuring. The SRP focuses on equipping them with basic, nationally recognised and portable skills so that they can move on to higher-skilled jobs.

The Government is aware that in the present economic climate, executives and professionals are also concerned about their employment prospects. A number have lost their jobs and may be finding it difficult to secure alternative employment, at least at a salary or seniority equivalent to that of their previous job.

However, the Government is of the view that a structured, broad-based retraining scheme similar to the SRP for executives and professionals is not necessary. The circumstances for executives and professionals are rather different from those of the less-educated workers. Unlike the less-educated workers, executives and professionals do not, as a group, lack skills. They are also expected to take greater responsibility for their own skills upgrading and career development.

In this period of economic downturn, executives and professionals should be prepared to adjust their expectations. They should not be too choosy about jobs. If need be, they should be willing to accept lower salaries and more demanding duties. If they need assistance in finding jobs, they can approach the Employment Service Department of my Ministry, which will do its best to match them with appropriate vacancies.

The critical issue for executives and professionals is to continuously update and enhance their existing stock of skills in order to keep up with new developments and demands. My Ministry is studying ways to widen the opportunities to do so. For instance, in some countries universities and polytechnics have a system that allows their graduates to return every few years in order to update their knowledge in their chosen field. MOM and MOE will study the feasibility of providing more opportunities for such refresher courses or updating of knowledge for our skilled workforce.