Measures to Reduce Unemployment Among PMETs
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns MP Leon Perera’s inquiry into the causes of rising PMET unemployment and the government's measures to reduce it. Minister Josephine Teo responded that the resident PMET unemployment rate actually fell to 2.9% in 2018, noting that over 28,000 job vacancies remained available in mid-2019. She highlighted the Adapt & Grow initiative, which utilizes the Career Support Programme and Professional Conversion Programmes to address wage and skill mismatches. These schemes provide salary and training support, specifically targeting mature jobseekers and the long-term unemployed to facilitate their re-entry into the workforce. Finally, the Ministry is expanding retraining capacity and pre-emptively assisting workers at risk of retrenchment to help them transition into new roles.
Transcript
20 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Government is reviewing the causes for the rising unemployment rate among PMETs and what measures are being considered to reduce it.
Mrs Josephine Teo: The unemployment rate of resident PMETs, which is released annually, fell from 3.1% in 2016 to 2.9% in 2018. The 2019 PMET unemployment rate is not yet available.
However, latest available data suggest that there are still job opportunities for PMETs. As at June 2019, there were over 28,000 PMET job vacancies. Total employment grew by 22,400 in the third quarter of 2019, largely in Community, Social & Personal Services, Professional Services and Information & Communications, sectors where PMETs make up the majority of their workforce. From January to August 2019, Workforce Singapore (WSG) and its partners placed 11,700 PMETs through the Adapt & Grow (A&G) initiative.
Nonetheless, there are PMET segments we are monitoring closely, such as mature PMET jobseekers, and those who are long-term unemployed. These groups may face greater challenges entering new jobs due to more cautious hiring and mismatches in wage expectations or skills.
Under the A&G initiative, WSG provides a range of programmes to address such mismatches. For example, the Career Support Programme (CSP) provides salary support to employers who hire long-term unemployed or mature retrenched PMETs. There are currently over 100 Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) which provide employers with training and salary support to re-skill and hire mid-career local jobseekers. These programmes provide higher support to mature or long-term unemployed jobseekers.
WSG is working closely with economic agencies and companies to increase capacity for PCPs as well as to pre-emptively retrain workers at risk of retrenchment so that they can take on new jobs within their companies.