More than 6,700 jobs, training opportunities offered in the food sector since April: MOM
Between April to July 2020, more than 1,800 individuals have found jobs or taken up new roles in the food sector through Workforce Singapore’s programmes.
SINGAPORE — Since April, more than 800 companies in the food sector have offered close to 6,700 openings, including job and training opportunities, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said during its weekly Jobs Situation Report on Monday (Sept 21).
Most of these are job opportunities, MOM said, and 44 per cent are for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs). They include roles as food technologists, chefs, food-and-beverage (F&B) service managers and business development managers.
Non-PMET roles include those for supervisors and general foremen (food processing), bakers, pastry and confectionery makers, as well as shop and store salespersons.
Salaries offered vary according to the job nature and skills required.
The pay range for PMET roles is around S$2,300 a month for chefs to slightly more than S$6,000 for manufacturing managers, while that for non-PMET roles ranges from around S$1,500 for waiters to close to S$2,800 for supervisors and general foremen (food processing).
MOM added that between April and July this year, more than 1,800 individuals found jobs or took up new roles in the food industry through programmes by government agency Workforce Singapore (WSG). Of these, 56 per cent were aged 40 and above and close to 80 were mid-career workers who entered the sector through career conversion programmes.
The ministry noted that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been mixed for the food sector.
For the food manufacturing sub-sector, manufacturers that had invested in automation before the Covid-19 crisis continued to grow because they were able to continue producing food supplies and meeting business demands with minimal disruption despite circuit breaker measures to halt economic and social activities here in April and May.
Companies supplying hotels, restaurants and cafes, on the other hand, saw a 40 to 90 per cent decline in sales.
The food services sub-sector was harder-hit by the pandemic, with manpower shortages and low footfall due to the circuit breaker measures.
Despite these challenges, there are transferable skills from other sectors that can enhance the prospects for mid-career individuals in the food industry, MOM said.
In the food manufacturing sub-sector, transferable skills include operation management, workplace safety and health, and strategy development. For food services, these skills include customer service and food product marketing.
For jobseekers with little or no prior experience in the industry, they may consider the following options, MOM said:
Company-hosted traineeships and attachments in roles such as flavour technologist, marketing and communications trainee, and business development trainee
Training courses under the SGUnited Skills programme for various roles within the food manufacturing sub-sector and the food services sub-sector.
Since April, close to 80 jobseekers have also entered company-hosted traineeships and enrolled for training under SGUnited Skills programme, MOM added. The programme, which caters to mid-career entrants, offers full-time training opportunities to Singaporeans and is designed to help jobseekers acquire industry-relevant skills while the economy recovers from the Covid-19 crisis.
WSG and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) under the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has also provided 44,200 jobseekers with career advisory or job search assistance through career matching services between January and August this year.
NTUC’s e2i also organised outreach and engagement activities to reach out to more than 3,200 jobseekers in August.
“The experience and skill sets gained will allow individuals to boost their employability for roles across the food sector,” MOM said.
Jobseekers may visit www.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/careercoaching or call WSG’s hotline at 6883 5885 for more information on its programmes, and career advisory and matching services.
