Companies that are not struggling to stay afloat amid the Covid-19 crisis should keep the need for long-term transformation in mind, labour chief Ng Chee Meng urged yesterday.

They should also look for opportunities during the pandemic to grow their businesses, he noted during a virtual media conference to share the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC) strategy to help workers hit by the economic fallout due to the coronavirus.

More companies are turning to technology during the prolonged pandemic to grow their customer base, and Mr Ng called on more to do the same.

Some have also tapped business opportunities created by the crisis, like Certact Engineering, which converted some of its production lines to manufacture components for medical equipment such as Covid-19 test kits and ventilators.

The local precision engineering firm has about 45 workers and provides services such as plastic welding, thermo-forming and plastic heat treatment.

Certact Engineering had to remodel its manufacturing processes and redesign jobs to support its new line of business, NTUC said.

The recently unionised company is also working with NTUC to train workers for its new production lines.

Transformation could be the key to survival, Mr Ng said. "Don't, and perish, or it is do, and survive," he added.

He urged companies to tap government grants that have been rolled out to encourage worker training during the economic downturn.

He also called on firms to focus on their industry transformation maps on coming out of the crisis stronger, with workers better prepared for the future.

Mr Ng was referring to the $4.5 billion Industry Transformation Programme, where road maps have been developed to encourage technological innovation among companies.

Labour MP and NTUC assistant secretary-general Patrick Tay made a similar call during a Budget round-table session in February.

DBS Bank chief executive Piyush Gupta said during the bank's annual general meeting last month that recent borrowing trends had shown that some companies in real estate, telecommunications, media and technology were still doing well.