SINGAPORE: There will be more than 60 skills upgrading pathways for rank and file workers and professionals under the new SPUR initiative to help workers reskill for new jobs.

After he was retrenched from the hospitality industry, Syed Haroon Abubakar became a taxi driver out of convenience. But he decided to pick up new skills and enrolled himself in a property management course.

The 49-year-old urged workers to be more open-minded when it comes to retraining for new jobs.

He said: "You must be ready to change your mindset to embark on a totally new environment and new nature of a job. Don't just sit tight and say, 'Oh, I am in trouble'. Nowadays the government has a lot of avenues, look at those avenues."

The government is concerned that the economic downturn will affect a growing number of professionals, managers, executives and technicians or PMETs.

So the latest initiative - Skills Programme for Upgrading & Resilience (SPUR) - is designed to help these workers acquire news skills for new jobs.

SPUR has spelt out clear career pathways for them. For example, if a manager is retrenched, he can approach the Employment and Employability Institute where he can choose from a list of upgrading pathways in growth sectors.

He will then undergo retraining for the new job. The trainee will receive a fee subsidy for the course and a training allowance.

NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say said: "The labour movement, we are very encouraged by this SPUR programme because it enables the rank and file unemployed to go for retraining and get back to the workplace again.

"It enables workers who have jobs today to upgrade (and) not at additional costs to the employer. More importantly, it enables the PMETs to switch lines and take advantage of SPUR and come out more viable with a career path."

- CNA/ir