SINGAPORE - More than 4,600 jobs and 860 traineeships in some 1,600 start-ups are available to local job seekers as part of the SGUnited Jobs and Skills programmes.
The top five jobs offered are software developers, chefs, engineering professionals, managers in sales, marketing and business development roles, and administrative and related associate professionals, said the Ministry of Manpower on Thursday (Aug 20) in its weekly jobs situation report.
These five top job roles pay a median monthly salary of between $2,700 and $6,000.
Other jobs on offer range from tech-related roles such as app developers to non-tech ones like sous chefs, business development and digital content producers.
Between April and June this year, about 330 job seekers have joined the start-ups with support from the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package. About half were mid-career workers who took part in the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP).
Meanwhile, about 150 fresh and recent graduates have entered the start-up scene through the SGUnited Traineeships Programme.
Speaking at the Singapore Management University's Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship on Thursday, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo addressed two misconceptions that she said some may have about working in start-ups.
"Some may have the misconception that start-ups pay below the industry norm - that is not true," said Mrs Teo, noting that the median salary for each of the top five roles that start-ups are hiring are in line with the industry norm.
Another misconception, she said, is that the start-up scene is filled with young entrepreneurs.
"In general, many of the roles are entry-level, but that does not mean that mid-career individuals with very rich experience cannot thrive in start-ups," said Mrs Teo.
She noted that there are career conversion programmes, such as the Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) that offer training in the relevant skillsets required.
Of the 330 who joined start-ups through the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, about half were mid-career individuals through PCPs, said Mrs Teo.
She added that job seekers who need help navigating these opportunities may approach Workforce Singapore (WSG) or the NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).
Last month, both WSG and e2i have reached more than 16,000 job seekers, with e2i reaching out to more than 2,800 job seekers through 22 outreach and engagement activities, providing them with job matching and skills advisory services.
Companies cut costs to save jobs
Mrs Teo also said that about 6,300 employers have submitted notifications to the ministry on their cost-cutting measures between March and July, affecting about 224,800 local and foreign employees - with local employees making up slightly less than half of the total.
The numbers are based on the total number of notifications by employers during that period. "As some employers have submitted multiple notifications to update on their cost-saving measures, the employer and employee counts are not unique," the MOM said.
The three most common cost-cutting measures were adjustments to monthly salary components, no-pay leave and shorter work weeks.
About half of the affected workers are from three sectors: 52,600 employees from accommodation and food services, 42,000 from construction, and 23,800 from the wholesale and retail trade.
This comes after the tripartite advisory on managing excess manpower and responsible retrenchments was updated in March to include requirements such as notifying MOM if cost-cutting measures taken have affected workers' salaries. Employers are also required to show that they have done so fairly.
MOM said: "Employers have generally been responsible and implemented cost-saving measures fairly.
"Cost-saving measures, as outlined in the tripartite advisory, are recommended alternatives to retrenchments, which should be the last resort for employers. However, job losses will still happen with the mounting pressure on businesses due to the Covid-19 pandemic," it added.
