Office workers at Singapore’s central business district are seen wearing mask on Wednesday, Sep 18, as haze worsens and PSI readings across the island hit unhealthy level.
SINGAPORE: From August, local mid-career jobseekers will be able to apply for more than 13,000 attachments with companies across multiple industries, under a new career pathway programme, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Workforce Singapore (WSG) on Wednesday (Jul 29).
The SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways programme, introduced earlier this month under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, aims to provide attachments and full-time training courses for mid-career jobseekers.
Those who take on the attachments, which range between four and nine months, will receive a monthly training allowance of between S$1,400 and S$3,000, said MOM and WSG.
Eighty per cent of the allowance will be funded by the Government, with the remaining 20 per cent to be borne by the host organisation.
The roles available under the programme include business development manager, software engineer, finance analyst, and e-commerce associate.
GIC, United Overseas Bank and Watsons Singapore are among companies that will be offering attachments, said MOM and WSG.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the launch of the mid-career attachments during a visit to the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Centre at Kampong Chai Chee Community Club on Wednesday.
The launch of the mid-career job attachments follows strong interest for the earlier-announced SGUnited Traineeships Programme for new graduates.
More than 6,400 organisations have indicated interest in offering more than 35,000 positions through the Traineeships programme to date, far exceeding the number of fresh and recent graduates who are likely to fill them, said MOM and WSG.
As such, WSG and the Singapore Business Federation, the programme manager for the mid-career initiative, will work with the organisations to open up the earlier-approved positions as attachments for mid-career inviduals.
“This will give host organisations the option to fill these positions with experienced mid-career individuals, who bring with them a wealth of work experience and skills,” they said.
While permanent jobs are not guaranteed after the attachment, mid-career jobseekers are “strongly encouraged” to consider participating in the programme, said MOM and WSG.
Aside from helping candidates widen their professional networks and gain new skills, host organisations may also consider hiring well-performing individuals as permanent employees when business conditions improve, they said.
“We empathise with the anxieties mid-career individuals face during this difficult time,” said WSG chief executiveTan Choon Sian.
“We hope that they will make full use of the attachments to embark on a new pathway that can help lead them to the next stage of their career,” he added
All Singaporeans and permanent residents are eligible for the programme, with the exception of recent graduates.
Attachments must commence by Mar 31 next year.
MOM on Wednesday also released preliminary data showing the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market.
Singapore’s overall unemployment rate rose to 2.9 per cent in the second quarter, its highest level in more than a decade, while retrenchments more than doubled from the previous quarter.
