New reskilling initiatives to help PMETs in air transport sector

White-collar workers in the air transport sector who are affected by economic restructuring can seek to upgrade their skills under a new scheme.

In addition, more mid-career professionals considering a switch to the sector can benefit from an expansion of a reskilling programme.

These two measures were announced by Manpower Minister Josephine Teo at the Sats Inflight Catering Centre 2 yesterday, amid efforts to transform the air transport sector and maintain Singapore's position as a global aviation hub.

The initiatives come from a collaboration involving Workforce Singapore (WSG), Republic Polytechnic (RP), the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and the National Trades Union Congress.

Mrs Teo said despite recent news that some sectors such as manufacturing are weakening, air transport is one sector that enjoys good growth momentum.

"What we want to do is not to let go of the good growth momentum," she added.

As companies in the sector transform to take advantage of opportunities, Mrs Teo said some jobs will become obsolete while manpower would be needed in other areas.

This is where the new Redeployment Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) for Air Transport Professionals will come in.

Job seekers can still snag good quality jobs in sectors such as air transport even though other sectors may have been hit by the current economic slowdown, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said yesterday.

There are currently about 60,000 vacancies waiting to be filled, with half of them for PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians), she said.

"If you look at our economy today, even though there are some sectors with weaknesses, the overall vacancies rate is quite healthy," said Mrs Teo.

"Quite a lot of these jobs are good quality jobs. How to equip our people to capture those job opportunities, that must be our focus," she added.

The minister was speaking at the Sats Inflight Catering Centre 2, where a new initiative was announced to help reskill white-collar air transport workers affected by business transformation to take up other jobs within the industry.

Acknowledging that sectors such as manufacturing and trade-related sectors are facing headwinds, Mrs Teo said help will be given in these cases.

"We must take these developments seriously and monitor them. There will be some sectors... where there's some weakening and we will try and see how best to support the companies in these sectors," she added.

Mrs Teo also said Singapore will continue to focus on growing a diversified economy through supporting companies in various sectors, and challenged companies to fulfil their side of the bargain.

"You no longer just pick and choose and say that we only want to grow certain sectors, you actually want a more diversified landscape," she said. "It's very much up to the company, and very much up to the industry to take advantage of the support that is available to help them ride the next wave."

"It is a win for the company because it means that their manpower needs can be met in a more timely manner," she said.

"It is also a win for the individual because it means that they get to keep a job... They acquire new skills and in doing so, they also get to extend their career runways."

The new Redeployment PCP for Air Transport Professionals will help firms looking to reskill or redeploy their workers by subsidising the workers' salaries for up to six months, during the period that the workers are undergoing retraining.

Companies will plan the workers' training programme, which can include both classroom training and on-the-job training, and submit their plans to programme administrator RP for review.

This is expected to benefit 100 PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) in the air transport sector in the next two years.

Meanwhile, a similar existing programme to help mid-career professionals move into the air transport sector will have its capacity increased from 100 to 200.

The PCP for Air Transport Professionals, which has helped 100 people since it was launched in February last year, will help expand the pool of job seekers in the industry, said WSG.

Two employees of airport and food services provider Sats vouched for the PCPs, saying these programmes helped them settle into their new jobs.

Operations assistant Hamidah Mohd Salleh, 57, went through the PCP for Ground Operations Officers in July 2017, after working as an administrative assistant for over two decades.

She said the PCP helped to allay her concerns and prepared her for her new job.

Mr Tan Chun Min, 25, was a graphic designer before switching jobs to become a 3D modeller who designs simulations to optimise work processes in the Sats kitchen. He went through the PCP for Air Transport Professionals last year.

Said Mr Tan: "Whichever industry we are from, we can actually come in... and pick it up from there as it is like on-the-job training."

Yesterday's announcements are the latest in a slew of initiatives aimed at achieving the goals set out in the Air Transport Industry Transformation Map announced in 2017.

The plan sets a target of increasing productivity by about 40 per cent by 2025, while redesigning or creating 8,000 "good jobs", with more positions for professionals, technicians and cabin crew.

There are more than 100 PCPs in over 30 sectors.

The programmes have helped close to 5,000 people reskill and take on new careers last year, an increase of over 30 per cent over 2017.

Sats said yesterday that it is expecting to support 100 PMETs through the two air transport PCPs for new hires and redeployment.

Sats president and chief executive Alex Hungate said: "We are finding that the rate we want to retrain and redeploy people is accelerating just as the change in the environment is accelerating.

"So this additional support helps us to accelerate the pace at which we can re-equip people for new exciting jobs in these new businesses."

The company is also currently tapping into WSG's Capability Transfer Programme to train a team of 80 workers in Singapore to use the latest technologies in preparing food products.

The programme, announced by WSG in late 2017, seeks to help companies plug capability gaps by bringing new capabilities in growth areas globally to the local workforce.