EXECUTIVES AND PROFESSIONALS (Assistance schemes for loss of jobs)

Mr Ahmad Mohd Magad asked the Minister for Manpower whether there are programmes and schemes in place to help executives and professionals who lose their jobs during the current economic downturn.

The Minister for Manpower (Dr Lee Boon Yang): Mr Speaker, Sir, my Ministry has focused many of our employment assistance and training efforts at lower skilled workers. There are good reasons for doing so. According to our statistics and information, lower skilled workers are not only more vulnerable to retrenchments, but also find it more difficult to seek re-employment. If we do not help these workers upgrade their skills, many of them could also face the prospect of long term structural unemployment even after the economy and the labour market recover.

This is not to say that we have forgotten about executives and professionals. They need help of a different kind. We offer employment assistance to displaced executives and professionals through our Career Centre, known as CareerLink@mom. The centre provides information on labour market trends, advice on job opportunities and training opportunities, and employment assistance for the unemployed. It helps all categories of job seekers, including executives and professionals, as long as they are Singapore citizens. The centre also works with organisations like the Singapore National Employers Federation and the Singapore Human Resource Institute to reach out to professionals and executives should they require employment assistance. Currently, 11% of the visitors to the centre are diploma or degree holders. And 23% of jobs in the CareerLink job bank are for professionals, managers and executives.

Sir, last month, my Ministry also revamped our Employment Town website (http://www.employmenttown.gov.sg) so as to provide some of CareerLink's services over the Internet, online. The revamped Employment Town will help Internet-savvy executives and professionals in their search for jobs and learning opportunities, without them having to physically visit the career centre at my Ministry. The Ministry's job bank is also available on Employment Town. To expand the available job options, the website also provides links to other job banks, recruiters and employment agencies. It also provides information on training incentives and training providers.

Sir, on the issue of retraining, executives and professionals are mostly degree and diploma holders who do not lack basic skills. Our training programmes have to be more focused. For example, my Ministry has worked with the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) on two Strategic Manpower Conversion Programmes (SMCP) to help executives and professionals make a career transition to the Infocomm sector. This programme, which was launched last year, provides funding support for employers who send existing employees or newly recruited staff for conversion training in information technology. The programme also has a Facilitator Scheme for individuals who have not been able to secure employment yet and hence are not able to get employers' funding support. Facilitators will assess the suitability of these candidates and register them for the conversion course. They will also help to place trainees with suitable employers upon completion of the course. To date, some 250 mid-career executives have benefited from the programme.

Sir, in view of the economic situation, my Ministry hopes to work with economic agencies to roll out the scheme in other sectors and to expand the training numbers. A total of $40 million has been set aside under the Manpower Development Assistance Scheme (MDAS) for this programme.

I must emphasise, however, that the success of the programme will depend ultimately on the expectations of the mid-career trainees as well as employers' acceptance of the concept of "mid-career conversion." I would like to urge all employers to support the concept and provide opportunities for our mid-career executives and professionals to make such a career transition.

Mr Speaker, Sir, given the economic and labour market conditions, my Ministry recognises that there would be more displacements among workers, including executives and professionals. We will work with our partners to expand existing programmes and introduce new programmes to help our workers in the months ahead.

Mr Ahmad Mohd Magad (Pasir Ris): Sir, it is very heartening to hear the programmes that the Minister has just announced. But in view of the commitment, in most cases very heavy commitment, of most mid-level executives, I wonder whether the Minister would consider some form of insurance scheme with a view to perhaps legislating it, such as what is being done in many European countries, the idea here being to help executives and professionals to tide over a reasonable period of time in between jobs when they get laid off, such as in the current downturn.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: We are going to encounter such ups and downs in our economic growth from time to time. We should not deviate from some fundamental positions just because we run into an occasional hiccup. We have had such a downturn before: in the mid-70s, in 1985/86 and, more recently, in 1998. We have not introduced unemployment insurance, if that is the concept that the hon. Member is suggesting, because we believe that that would just further decrease our competitiveness. Introducing unemployment insurance would be an additional cost factor for employers. We have always believed that our workers should save for the rainy day. We help them to save through the CPF mechanism, which will enable them to meet their mortgage commitments besides saving for old age. Over and above the CPF, many workers are also able to put aside additional savings of their own, particularly when we are talking about executives and professionals. I would like to remind the hon. Member that CPF contribution is capped at a ceiling of $6,000 of the salary. Income above $6,000 is not subject to CPF contribution at all. Therefore, there is tremendous opportunity for people in this category - the executives and professionals earning more than $6,000 - to put aside additional savings on their own so that they are better prepared for any sudden ups and downs in the economy. I think we should not, just because of this downturn, unscramble some fundamental principles and launch into new directions which may, in fact, have very long-term implications and may well affect our overall competitiveness in the future and make it even more difficult for us to turn the economy around.