Manpower for Infrastructure Projects

4 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether there are enough technicians and engineers to handle our infrastructure projects and their maintenance; and (b) what measures are in place to meet manpower shortfalls in this sector.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: As Singapore embarks on major infrastructural projects in the coming decades, the Government will continue to work closely with the tripartite partners to build a strong pipeline of engineers and technicians to meet the sector's manpower needs.

We expect the demand for technicians and engineers to grow steadily in the coming years. The railway sector, for example, employs more than 2,000 engineers and 4,000 technicians today and will need to employ another 1,500 by 2020. Another area of demand is for lift technicians as Singapore's built environment continues to transform. There are currently about 2,100 lift technicians and, by 2020, we expect to employ another 1,000 more.

The tripartite partners have worked together to formulate a package of measures to attract and retain talent.

First, industry-wide branding and promotion of engineering and technical jobs. For example, in 2015, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) established a $12.5 million Public Transport Manpower Development Fund to support initiatives, such as career fairs, internships and study awards, to uplift the image of engineering and technical careers and attract new entrants to the industry.

Second, building a dedicated pipeline of engineering and technical expertise. We have also been ramping up the offering of training programmes at both the Pre-Employment Training and Continuing Education and Training levels, as well as structured on-the-job training. For example, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) is partnering lift companies to offer scholarships/sponsorships to attract Singaporeans at the degree, diploma and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) levels to take up lift maintenance-related courses and careers. For the railway sector, our ITEs, polytechnics and universities launched seven new railway engineering courses, ranging from National ITE Certificate to Masters. The first few batches of graduates will be ready to join the industry in the next one to two years. We are also working with programme partners to launch more rail-related Continuing Education and Training programmes, such as the Nanyang Technological University's new Specialist Certificate in Civil Infrastructure Engineering, to help environmental engineers gain civil engineering knowledge.

Third, attracting mid-career switchers. Agencies, such as BCA and LTA, have also been working with Workforce Singapore and the Employment and Employability Institute to attract mid-career switchers through Professional Conversion Programmes by equipping workers from other sectors with the relevant competencies to embark on a career in the infrastructure sector.