UNEMPLOYED WORKERS

Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh asked the Minister for Manpower if he will give an update on (i) the current extent and nature of unemployment for workers between 40 and 55 years old; (ii) the amount of funds being disbursed for retraining purposes between 1998 and 1999 and the nature of the courses; and (iii) the reasons for rejecting funding assistance for training programmes outside of those determined by his Ministry, if any.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: As at June 2000, there were a total of 95,700 unemployed persons. 37% (or 35,500) were aged 40 to 54 years of age. The proportion of job seekers aged 40 to 54 had increased compared with June 1997, before the onset of the economic downturn. In June 1997, this age cohort accounted for 26% of job seekers. The increase in share of unemployed persons for the mature workers was also felt across all educational groupings.

Currently, the main focus of Government funded training is to enhance the employability of lower skilled workers because they are more vulnerable to structural unemployment. Most of training programmes for this group of workers are funded by the Skills Development Fund (SDF) and the Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP).

In FY98, the SDF committed about $82 million in training grants. This helped support the course fees for 530,000 training places in the areas of Technical Service Skills, Computer-related Skills, Productivity and Quality-related Skills, Technical Production and Engineering Skills, and Trade and Craft Skills.

On top of course fee subsidy provided by the SDF, the Government also spent about $20 million per year to fund the absentee payroll for employers sending their workers for certifiable training under the SRP.

The Government recognises that older workers face greater barriers to re-training. Therefore, the SDF and SRP also provide enhanced funding for training of workers aged 40 and above with higher course fees and absentee payroll subsidies.

In the case of the retrenched, unemployed or self-employed, SDF and SRP assistance are available to them through the Community Development Councils and self-help groups acting as surrogate employers. Individuals can sign up for part-time or full-time training through these surrogate employers. Unemployed individuals are also given some financial support to tide them over their financial difficulties during their training period. In 1999, more than 200 individuals attended full-time training and about 4,000 participated in part-time training through this arrangement.

The approval for subsidy by SDF and SRP is based on the relevance and quality of the training courses. This is necessary to ensure that training leads to skills upgrading and better employability. Both the SDF and SRP are implemented with employer support and inputs so that there is a minimal rejection of training assistance.

While the SDF and SRP cater to lower skilled workers, the Government also supports the training of skilled workers and professionals, especially in strategic growth sectors. Examples of such programmes include EDB's Initiatives in New Technology (INTECH) Programme for critical technologies, IDA's Critical Infocomm Technology Resource Programme (CITREP) for the infocommunication sector and MOM's Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme (SMCP), also for the infocommunication sector.

Finally, to help the unemployed, my Ministry has set up a Career Centre to provide assistance and advice on employment and training opportunities. Those who are unemployed and have difficulty in securing a job can make use of the free services provided by the Centre. This includes advice on alternative employment opportunities and relevant training courses that will improve their employment prospects.