National talent bank, micro-jobs can help workers: MPs
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — To help workers negotiate shifts in the economy, several Members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday (Feb 28) suggested a slew of measures, including forming a talent bank, easing women back into the workforce via a returnship programme and helping seniors earn an income through the gig economy.
Speaking on the first day of the debate on the Budget statement, Tampines GRC MP Desmond Choo said that on top of the National Jobs Bank, a National Talent Bank should be set up.
The aim of this platform, which should include networking features such as those offered by social-networking sites Facebook and LinkedIn, would be to allow jobseekers, present and future, convenient access to be headhunted for jobs.
“(It) also allows us to analyse the deficit between national skills, competencies and what’s required in our economy,” said Mr Choo, a National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) director.
As the Republic spreads its wings overseas, global firms should also know where to reach out to Singaporean talent. Saying that job sites are focused on specific industries and tend to be used largely by professionals now, he encouraged the Government to work with private-sector firms, such as LinkedIn, to devise such solutions at a national level.
Meanwhile, the labour movement is mooting a returnship programme to help women rejoin the workforce.
Mr Choo cited a recent small-scale NTUC U Family online poll, which canvassed responses from stay-at-home women who plan to return to work. It showed, among other things, that nearly six in 10 of the 564 respondents intended to work within a year. Most were also keen to start immediately if a trial work option was available.
Under the returnship programme, employers will offer women a paid career-trial period of between two and four months. Ultimately, the goal is to place them in permanent jobs with the same firm or another employer.
For starters, firms with vacancies or employees who are on temporary leave and need workers in the interim could come on board. The Public Service Division, Singapore’s biggest employer, should take the lead to offer women such career trials, said Mr Choo.
With freelance work arrangements gaining ground, MP Sun Xueling (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) said the Government would also need to ensure citizens continue to be cared for under the country’s frameworks for retirement adequacy.
Regulations might have to be tweaked to bring companies that engage individuals systematically but do not pay their share of Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions into the fold, she added.
Concurring, Mr Choo said the gig economy cannot develop without stronger workplace protection and retirement support.
“We need a robust framework to protect freelancers and the employers hiring them,” he said.
On helping mature workers, Mr Henry Kwek (Nee Soon GRC) said there was room for the Government to kick-start a gig economy for seniors, citing the uncertainties they face in fitting into Singapore’s future economy.
This is done by creating “micro-jobs” for mature workers, starting with the social services. For instance, in home-based healthcare, the number of nurses can be trimmed. In place, a trained senior who lives nearby could be hired to do tasks such as assisting in dressing wounds.
To facilitate this, a national digital platform and app could be set up to reach out to seniors, as well as obtain feedback from nurses and patients to ensure service quality. The national SkillsFuture movement could also be tapped to prepare seniors for these roles.
There are “vast possibilities” if this comes to pass, including tapping grandmothers to provide infant care at their homes or retired educators to offer after-school care for students, Mr Kwek said
This could even be extended beyond social services to the private sector, such as the food-service industry, as well as stay-at-home mothers and special-needs workers to help them land micro-jobs near their homes, he added.
