NTUC rolls out more peer support for job-seeking professionals

Volunteers in the Pivot programme (L-R) Peter Gwee, Chong Kee Sen, Alex Chua, and Jeffrey Pramudita. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG

SINGAPORE - Out-of-work professionals now have a new channel to find technical training as well as advice from peers in industries they want to join.

Over 60 volunteers from 16 industries, such as Internet security and accountancy, will share their experience and provide emotional support to jobseekers, under the labour movement's new Pivot programme launched on Monday (March 13).

Participants will also be able to meet career coaches, attend talks by industry associations, get training in both soft and technical skills, and be matched to job opportunities if suitable.

This is the latest in a slew of initiatives aimed at helping professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) amid concerns about rising retrenchments as the economy restructures.

The unemployment rate for PMETs rose to 3.1 per cent in June last year, up from 2.7 per cent the year before.

National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) assistant director-general Vivek Kumar said Pivot will bring together NTUC's various skills development programmes, career coaching, job fairs and networking help.

"We want to help people in transition, groups of professionals who are facing the challenge of dealing with disruption within their sector - they could either be displaced or feeling like they are going to be displaced," he told reporters at the programme's launch at the Singapore Institution of Safety Officers.

The volunteers are from NTUC's U Associate network of professional guilds and associations, and have undergone a training session conducted by the Singapore Psychological Society.

Pivot is run by U Associate and NTUC's U PME Centre and Employment and Employability Institute. It is an expansion of the Career Activation Programme which NTUC launched in 2015 where older workers who were unemployed for a long period can receive peer support from volunteers who have been through a similar experience. About 150 people have participated in the programme.

People interested in the Pivot programme can visit http://ntuc.co/findmypivot.

At the launch event for Pivot on Monday, seven organisations signed agreements with U Associate, bringing the total number of groups under the network to 58.

The new groups are the Association of Crypto-Currency Enterprises and Start-Ups Singapore, Institute of Parks and Recreation Singapore, Internet Society, Nanyang Technological University School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Alumni Association, Singapore FinTech Association, Singapore Institute of Aerospace Engineers, and TechSociety Group.

A U PME Week will be held from March 20 to 23 with 20 sessions held by U Associates to help PMEs understand future job trends and innovation.

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