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SINGAPORE: For the very low-skilled, older and low-wage workers, there is this assurance - a training scheme is being devised.
But what productivity training is in store for rank-and-file workers as well as Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs)?
The two groups formed two-third and one-third respectively of the take-up for the S$650-million Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur), which ends in November - and there was no mention in the government's Budget speech last week that it would be extended.
Just as well, said employers, economists and trainers.
If the national goal is a "quantum leap in productivity", as Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam had put it, then those whom MediaCorp spoke to agreed that it is best to put Spur to bed for something better.
And a better system, they said, would need two crucial elements - continuous education and company-specific training.
Economics lecturer Shandre Thangavelu said training programmes must allow a "vertical" accumulation of human capital. This means Institute of Technical Education graduates should have the chance to take a diploma and later a university degree.
"(For) lifelong learning, the system should allow you to enter the education system at any point in your life," said the National University of Singapore associate professor.
Such opportunities are "very limited" now, as university admission is "very skewed to the younger cohort". The government could offer funding or a scholarship for older workers to take on university education under a scheme such as Spur, he added.
When contacted, Manpower Ministry director (planning and policy) Jeffrey Wong said the ministry "will continue to build up the Continuing Education and Training (CET) system to cater to all workers, both rank-and-file and PMETs".
He added that "more details on training and the expansion of the CET framework", for which the government has committed S$2.5 billion over the next five years, will be unveiled when Parliament debates the ministries' expenditures.
Employers are clear what they want - for example, PMETs with horizontal skills, such as sales and project management.
Diethelm Keller Aviation chief executive Chia Chee Seng suggested collaborations with universities and overseas institutions, noting that PMETs, who comprise about half the workforce, prefer a degree awarded by a college or university, rather than a Workforce Skills Qualification diploma under the national framework for skills development certification.
The Workforce Development Agency will work with industries to support demands where jobs and skills are needed.
Training programmes need to be customised even further - structured to a company's needs, said Mr Billy Chan, deputy director for Pace Academy, a CET centre at Singapore Polytechnic.
Before designing a training programme, a company's needed skill sets should be mapped out and its workforce evaluated to determine skill gaps. This should be done before a company qualifies for funding, he said.
For employer Mr Chia, company-specific training could include process change or change in mindsets and attitudes - to help retain the upgraded worker, as he has more ownership over the company and more promotion opportunities.
While experts felt some elements of Spur could be kept in any new schemes, such as its absentee payroll scheme and course subsidies, they said that Spur courses, which focused on employability, were not sufficient to enhance productivity.
For instance, a worker could change careers under Spur to become a nurse.
"But when you start working as a nurse, there are many areas of training (to take) to make you a productive person," said Singapore Human Resources Institute executive director David Ang.
"Spur training is skill-based," said Sheraton Towers' human resources director Francis Tan. But productivity also requires the ability to "approach and implement appropriate actions/jobs differently to obtain the desired result".
The training would be different for rank-and-file workers and PMETs, he added.
- TODAY/sc
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