More professionals have signed up for job conversion programme in first half of 2017
PMET returners filling up forms at a career fair. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — More people have signed up for professional conversion programmes (PCPs) in a bid to make mid-career switches, with the number doubling from 600 in the first half of last year to over 1,500 within the same period this year.
Revealing this on Wednesday (Sept 29), Second Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo said that the PCP is one of the Government’s strategies to expand the talent pipeline by tapping the experience of mid-career professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs).
Although PMETs form more than half of Singapore’s local workforce, Mrs Teo noted that workers in this group who have been made redundant have grown to about 70 per cent of those laid off because of technological disruption and changing business models.
But the disruptions have also created more jobs for PMETs, and there is a need to tap mid-career workers as the country’s “third source” of talents to fill in those roles, apart from relying solely on fresh graduates and foreign labour, she added.
Speaking at the Singapore Human Capital Summit, Mrs Teo said that the PCP is one initiative used to mine the talent of mid-career PMETs. First introduced in 2007 to facilitate mid-career transitions, the PCP has since been rolled out to 27 sectors, including retail and aerospace.
Other efforts include providing wage and training support through the Adapt and Grow initiative and strengthening the human resource industry so that such initiatives can be put in place to equip potential and existing employees with up-to-date skills.
On top of that, Mrs Teo will also oversee an effort to place jobseekers in positions in five industries — financial services, professional services, healthcare, wholesale trade as well as infocomm and media.
However, she acknowledged that “not enough” businesses are unlocking the talents of mid-career workers, preferring to “plug and play” instead. This means hiring those with the pre-requisite skills so that they can “hit the ground running”.
Such an approach might not be sustainable in a world where “disruption is pervasive”, said Mrs Teo, since it means that employers will only poach workers from competitors “by bidding upwards”.
“The talent pool does not expand quickly enough to meet emerging needs, talent acquisition costs escalate even as positions go unfilled and business opportunities are not fully exploited.
“At the same time, experienced mid-career local PMETs remain unemployed or under-employed. That is a loss to both businesses and society,” she added.
