SINGAPORE - About 2,800 companies have stepped up to offer over 19,000 traineeships for new graduates, as part of initiatives to help them enter the workforce.
"While these traineeships may not be the same as a job, they will help young graduates to build networks, skill sets and resumes. This in turn will stand them in good stead in landing a permanent role when the hiring demand picks up," said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo in a Facebook post on Wednesday (June 10).
Application for traineeships under the SGUnited Traineeships Programme opened on June 1. A virtual career fair will be held later this month.
In a previous update on May 31, Mrs Teo said that over 1,000 organisations had offered more than 11,000 traineeships for graduating students.
Mrs Teo spoke with fresh graduates from the Institute of Technical Education, polytechnics and universities in a virtual conference on Wednesday. She noted in her post that while the students acknowledged that the job market has become less favourable, they were not despondent.
Rather, they were curious about the programme, whether host companies would take trainees seriously and how they could best position themselves for sought-after jobs, she said.
The Ministry of Manpower is working with host organisations on two key aspects: exposing trainees to different companies and their networks and offering a variety of roles for selection, Mrs Teo said.
Both large and small firms were approached by Workforce Singapore to get onboard the traineeship programme.
A variety of roles, ranging from familiar ones in infocommunications, engineering and marketing to more niche positions, such as a funeral director assistant and food technologist, have been curated, she added.
"Such opportunities will allow our graduates to experience working in different industries and gain clarity on what they may want to pursue later in life," Mrs Teo said.
In her post, she encouraged graduates and those thinking of switching career paths to stay "open-minded and resilient" and to tap the traineeship programme to achieve their longer-term or new career goals.
