Effectiveness of SkillsFuture in Helping Recent and Past University Graduates Gain Employment
Ministry of EducationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar’s inquiry into how SkillsFuture assists recent graduates in job retention and helps older graduates aged 35 and above secure employment after retrenchment. Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung responded that 90% of university graduates find employment within six months through industry-relevant courses and economic dynamism. To support newer graduates, the government introduced Education and Career Guidance, Work-Study Degree Programmes, and the SkillsFuture Series for lifelong mastery. For mature graduates, Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung cited Professional Conversion Programmes and the Career Support Programme, which provides salary support for hiring long-term unemployed PMETs. These initiatives aim to ensure workers remain adaptable through continuous reskilling as the economy faces new challenges.
Transcript
34 Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) how successful has the SkillsFuture initiative helped (i) recent university graduates in securing employment that they have stayed in for at least one year, (ii) older university graduates aged at least 35 in 2017 and who had left their jobs or been retrenched to secure employment thereafter, in the same industry they were in and in a different industry respectively.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: The employment outcomes for our university graduates have been good. Over the past 10 years, around nine in 10 university graduates who entered the labour market each year found employment within six months after their final examinations. This is achieved by ensuring that university courses are relevant and of good quality and produce graduates with degrees valued by the market. In addition, and also most importantly, we have to ensure that the Singapore economy remains diverse and dynamic.
Under the SkillsFuture movement, our autonomous universities have taken further steps to ensure that graduates identify their strengths and interests, possess the right skills and knowledge to practise their crafts, and achieve mastery through lifelong learning. We have enhanced our Education and Career Guidance system, opened up more educational pathways, and introduced more opportunities for internships and overseas attachments. Students can also use the MySkillsFuture portal to help them make informed education and career choices. We have also launched new SkillsFuture Work-Study Degree Programmes, where Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and industry collaborate to deliver undergraduate courses. The IHLs have also banded together to deliver the SkillsFuture Series of courses to help their graduates keep their skills and knowledge up to date.
We work closely with the Ministry of Manpower and Workforce Singapore to support and assist mature graduates seeking new employment. For example, the Professional Conversion Programmes help professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) undergo training and move into new occupations with good prospects and progression. Workforce Singapore also runs the Career Support Programme to encourage employers to hire experienced, mature PMETs, especially the longer-term unemployed, by providing them with salary support.
As our economy continues to adapt to new challenges, there will be no let-up in our efforts to enhance the opportunities of learning and reskilling that our workers can gain through SkillsFuture.