Measures to Close Pay Gap between ITE, Polytechnic and University Graduates

12 Dr Wan Rizal asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what measures will the Ministry propose to close the pay gap between ITE, polytechnic and university graduates over the course of their careers; and (b) how does the Ministry plan to engage with employers to address pay disparities among graduates in the workforce.

The Minister for Manpower (Dr Tan See Leng): Mr Speaker, various Government agencies, including the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), have been working together to tackle the issue of wage differences amongst graduates. There are ongoing efforts in partnerships with companies, and we are also working on new initiatives to address the differences in wages.

It is important we narrow these differences to ensure social cohesion is not impacted.

First, we need to enable our ITE and polytechnic graduates to enter good quality, in-demand jobs so that they can enjoy good career prospects and sustained wage growth. We do this in a few ways. Our ITE and polytechnics regularly review their curricula to ensure their industry relevance and this includes aligning with the skills framework and the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs).

They also work closely with employers and sector agencies to provide quality internships to students, equipping them with skills to enter good jobs related to their training. Additionally, MOE is scaling up Work-Study Programmes, where fresh polytechnic and ITE graduates are placed into jobs where they can deepen their skills through a structured training programme that includes on-the-job training, while pursuing careers related to their disciplines of study.

MOE regularly tracks the effectiveness and relevance of these Work-Study Programmes. More than 95% of graduates were employed within six months after completion of the programmes. And based on MOE's latest survey findings, median salaries had also increased compared to what they received at the start of the programme. For example, ITE is growing its Work-Study Diploma Programme from 1,200 places to 1,500 places each year by 2025, so more graduates can benefit from Work-Study Programmes. This is complemented by new sector-specific programmes, which were launched last year.

To Dr Wan Rizal’s question on how we plan to engage with employers, IMDA, together with industry players, has set up the TechSkills Accelerator, or TeSA programme for short, for ITE and Polytechnics Alliance, or the TIP Alliance in short, to equip our polytechnic and ITE graduates with the skills to kickstart their careers in tech. The TIP Alliance will work with participating companies such as Accenture, Google and Singtel to provide internships and apprenticeships.

MTI has also introduced the Accelerated Pathways for Technicians and Assistant Engineers for Manufacturing, or APT(M) to support manufacturing companies with progressive HR practices in hiring and training ITE graduates for Technician and Assistant Engineer roles, and providing them with career, skills progression and competitive salaries.

Secondly, we need to support our ITE and Polytechnic graduates to continuously upskill and progress in their careers. As our economy continues to restructure, as it continues to transform, jobs as well as careers will also keep evolving.

The National Centre of Excellence for Workplace Learning, or NACE helps companies to strengthen their workplace learning capabilities, so that their workers can upskill on the job. ITE and Polytechnic graduates can pursue modular upgrading or part-time full qualification programmes at the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) while they are working. These modular courses can stack up to diploma, post-diploma and degree qualifications.

Over time, workers may also consider pivoting to new careers as interests change and new opportunities emerge in the economy. Workforce Singapore (WSG) offers close to 100 Career Conversion Programmes, or CCPs, across about 30 sectors, to help workers to transition into new in-demand jobs. More than 12,000 Polytechnic and ITE graduates have benefited from CCPs in the last five years and moved into new jobs into sectors including air transport, financial services and early childhood.

Thirdly, we also need employers to consider ITE and Polytechnic graduates fairly for job and promotion opportunities and prospects, instead of being pigeonholed unfairly based on their starting qualifications. The Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices set out fair and merit-based employment practices that all employers should adopt when making employment decisions. The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices, or TAFEP, has been supporting employers with advisory services and resources to implement fair practices. In addition, the Institute for HR Professionals (IHRP) works closely with enterprises and HR professionals to strengthen overall HR capabilities, such as via the Human Capital Diagnostic Tool (HCDT) to identify developmental areas and upskill HR in fair and progressive practices via IHRP skill badges.

I have outlined our very comprehensive approach to ensure that our ITE and polytechnic graduates will continue to enjoy good career prospects and for them to achieve their fullest potential. Success will require buy-in from everyone in society to do our part to recognise, to value one another, and to embrace a broader definition of meritocracy.

Mr Speaker: Dr Wan Rizal.

Dr Wan Rizal (Jalan Besar): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for the comprehensive reply. My concern is really about the growing divergence in the starting pay of the ITE, the polytechnic and the university students. My greatest concern really is over time, this gap widens, it increases and it is very difficult to catch up over time.

Having taught students from ITE and right now in polytechnics too, I can see the potential in them especially when they come back to do their part-time diplomas or degrees. But they do feel that because they had started way further, it becomes more difficult for them to come forward. Many of this issue stems from the issue of stigmatisation. How do we overcome this? And that is why I ask in the Parliamentary Question what are the measures that the Ministry would take to change the mindset among employers? And that would be my supplementary question.

But at the same time, can we set a timeline for an implementation? At the very least, we can give ourselves this idea that we are going toward somewhere. And we can give our ITE and polytechnic graduates that idea that we are trying our best to close this gap. In that regard, would we be willing to start a longitudinal and continual study, and data collection on the pay gap between the different groups so that we can use this data to supplement our policy planning?

Dr Tan See Leng: I thank the Member for his suggestion. Members of the House, this is an ongoing exercise. The Government tracks the employment outcomes of graduates through surveys. This includes the graduate employment survey as well as the comprehensive labour force survey. To complement these surveys, the MOE is working with the IHLs to pilot tracer surveys that can track key trends on graduates' employment status and wages five years after graduation. The findings will then be used to engage the relevant stakeholders to improve employment outcomes for all of graduates.

In response to the Member's suggestion, on top of these surveys and the studies that have been ongoing, as I have said earlier on, it takes all the different stakeholders in our society to come together to recognise the contributions of each and every one of our workers, irrespective of the qualifications.

So broadly, if I may share a bit under the Forward Singapore "Empower" pillar, we are further looking into how to help our workers develop their career health, by helping them to make clearer and informed career decisions; help them to better navigate the labour market as well as be rewarded for their skills. We believe that by investing in this and by continually helping them to upgrade, to re-skill, to keep relevant to the rapidly changing disruptions that we are seeing around us, they will then be able to, as a result of the re-skilling and the upgrading, improve their wages as well as their career prospects.