Committee of Supply 2023 debate, Day 4: Tan See Leng on forging new social compact for jobs, retirement, reward and respect

Singaporeans who want to upskill and look for jobs at the same time can soon go to a new “recommender”. Called “CareersFinder”, it will be added to Workforce Singapore’s MyCareersFuture portal in the third quarter of the year. Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, who announced this in Parliament on Wednesday (Mar 1), said there has been feedback that some people prefer to explore job opportunities and skills upgrading at the same time, as they are inter-related. He said CareersFinder is the first step to try and integrate jobs and training recommenders. It helps jobseekers to identify potential career opportunities based on their individual profiles and recommends suitable training programmes to help them achieve their career goals. The feature will become more powerful as the data grows, said Dr Tan. MOM will continue to make it more responsive to jobseekers’ needs. Turning to efforts to attract top global talent, Dr Tan indicated that specialised roles in tech, healthcare and sustainability are among a list of skills for Employment Pass applicants who are in short supply in the local workforce under the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). He said the SOL will be reviewed regularly, with a major refresh every three years to ensure that it is responsive to industry developments, while preserving enough certainty for businesses. Outlining his ministry’s priorities, Dr Tan said MOM will have three key thrusts. First, it will seize opportunities with Singaporeans by supporting them to improve their career prospects and resilience so that they will be empowered to take on good jobs. At the same time, it will continue to be open to workers of the right calibre and in areas where they are needed so that businesses can build the best team of local and foreign talent to grow. MOM’s second focus is to strengthen support for Singaporeans’ retirement adequacy by enhancing the CPF system so that they can have peace of mind in their golden years. It will press on with its whole-of-society effort to provide greater support for platform workers, lower-wage workers and senior workers by protecting their interests at work. Third, MOM will act collectively with Singaporeans to secure safer, fairer and more progressive workplaces. “I believe that if we journey through the crossroads together, we will be able to align the crossroads and forge a new social compact, one where the Government, employers and our fellow Singaporeans work together to improve career prospects, strengthen retirement adequacy and bring fair levels of reward and respect for all forms of work. It is one where no worker is left behind as Singapore progresses,” said Dr Tan.