Curbs on staff working in office may be eased

Restrictions on workers returning to offices may be relaxed, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said yesterday.

"The multi-ministry task force has been discussing whether restrictions on returning to offices can be further loosened," she told reporters in Mandarin after a visit to Singtel. "Some announcements will be made in the near future... We need your patience to wait a little bit more."

Mrs Teo's comments came a day after the Government announced that Singapore will move into phase three of its reopening on Dec 28.

In a televised address to the nation on Monday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the permitted group size for social gatherings will go up from five to eight, and capacity limits for public places such as malls, attractions and places of worship will be increased.

Yesterday, Mrs Teo also gave an update on the SGUnited Traineeships programme, an initiative for fresh graduates to gain job experience amid a weaker job market due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 4,700 trainees had been placed under the programme as at early this month, she said. "We are now discussing with MOE (Ministry of Education) on the future plans for the SGUnited Traineeships scheme," said Mrs Teo.

She also said that around 430 mid-career job seekers had been placed on attachments with about 170 host organisations under the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme as at early this month.

Among them is Ms Michelle Wee, 54, who was formerly working in the cruise industry and is now undergoing an attachment at Singtel as a digital executive, where she helps small and medium-sized enterprises in their digitalisation.

Singtel is looking to fill 800 positions across business, operational and technical roles under the two SGUnited programmes. So far, it has filled more than half of the positions, with 79 mid-career individuals and 363 fresh graduates.

Mid-career individuals like Ms Wee are attached to a company for up to nine months to gain industry experience and new skills in order to improve their employability. They get a monthly training allowance of up to $3,000, of which 80 per cent is funded by the Government.

Mrs Teo said the programme is gaining momentum, "but not as fast as we would like".

One reason for this is that some companies have had to adjust their training programmes to better suit mid-career individuals, who already have years of experience and skills, she said.

In addition, many mid-career job seekers prefer a job offer rather than joining an attachment programme, said Mrs Teo.

"We want more employers and job seekers to take advantage of the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme and, in doing so, explore and make available new options to themselves," she said.