UNEMPLOYMENT AND RETRAINING PROGRAMMES

Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh asked the Minister for Manpower if he will give (a) an update on unemployment figures in 1999 based on age, education, gender and job sector; (b) the nature and duration of retraining programmes which have benefited women workers in 1999; and (c) the effectiveness of such training in matching the needs in the job market measured in terms of immediate job placement and work productivity levels.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Singapore's unemployment rate is traditionally low averaging around 2%. However, along with her regional neighbours, Singapore was not spared from the downturn triggered by the currency crisis in mid-1997. The impact of the economic slowdown on the labour market was, however, only largely felt in the second half of 1998 with unemployment reaching a high of 4.4% in the later half of the year. By 1999, the labour market began to show some signs of recovery, with the unemployment rate declining throughout most of the year. The 1999 unemployment figure will be available on the 24th February 2000 when the Annual Economic Survey is released. Full details on the unemployment profile will be available in the quarterly Labour Market Report to be released in mid-March 2000.

All workers, regardless of gender, age and race are given opportunities to retrain and upgrade their skills and knowledge. Female workers can benefit and have benefited from retraining programmes such as the Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP). Among the 21,700 workers who have been trained or are undergoing training under the SRP, 40% are females. In fact, during the early stages of the SRP when it focused primarily on the manufacturing sector, an even greater percentage of females were trained. Most of the trainees were female production workers. Today, the SRP has expanded into many other sectors such as childcare, healthcare, banking, travel and tourism, telecommunications, etc, so female workers of many different occupations are being trained.

The courses being offered by national training programmes are varied. They include preparatory courses such as Basic Education for Skills Training (BEST) and Worker Improvement through Secondary Education (WISE) which aim to raise the workers' proficiency in language and numeracy. Other courses include Certificates of Competencies (CoC), National Technical Certificates (NTC) levels 2 and 3, as well as other certificate courses offered by the polytechnics and the ITE. These courses are relevant to various different industries in both the manufacturing and services sectors. The duration of the courses also varies. For example, the duration of a CoC course or 1 module of NTC course is usually 120 hours. The duration of an NTC 3 course is 480 hours.

In 1999, MOM started a scheme to improve the employability of retrenched workers through skills upgrading. This was done under the SRP and spearheaded by the self-help groups, which acted as surrogate employers. Under the scheme, retrenched workers who were unable to secure re-employment went for skills upgrading under the SRP. 139 sponsored retrenched workers graduated under the scheme between August and November last year. Of the 114 whom we managed to contact during a recent survey, 89 (78%) have found employment and 25 (22%) are still unemployed.

Training is not only relevant to retrenched workers. It is just as important in raising the skill levels and productivity of those who have a job. In a study conducted by the Skills Development Fund in 1998, about 90% of the companies surveyed indicated that training had significant impact on the level of service quality, followed by productivity growth and level of product quality of the organisations. The extent of increase in the level of service quality ranged from 11% to 20%; and 1% to 10% for productivity growth and level of product quality. As for the impact of training on individuals, 80% of the companies surveyed indicated that there was an enhancement in employability after an employee had gone through certifiable training. More than 60% of the organisations also said that employees who had undergone training received a wage increase ranging from 1% to 10%.