SINGAPORE - More than 6,300 jobs, traineeships, attachments and training opportunities are currently on offer from nearly 1,000 companies in the manufacturing sector for local job seekers.
Of these, about four in five - or 5,100 roles - are for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a weekly jobs situation report on Wednesday (Aug 26).
Jobs made up slightly more than half of the roles, with 2,400 for PMETs and 800 for non-PMETs.
Meanwhile, traineeships and attachments made up 2,100 roles, with 1,800 for PMETs and 300 for non-PMETs.
Of the training roles on offer, 900 are for PMETs and 200 for non-PMETs.
The top job roles in the manufacturing sector are engineering professionals, electronics engineers, manufacturing engineering technicians, production clerks and administrative professionals or associates.
The median salary for these roles range from $1,500 for a production clerk to $4,700 for an electronics engineer, said MOM.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday during a visit to multinational medical technology company Becton Dickinson, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said the roles will put jobseekers in a “stronger position when the hiring demand resumes”.
The ministry added that more than 730 job seekers have entered the manufacturing sector with support from the SGUnited Jobs and Skills programmes. About 62 per cent were mid-career individuals who participated in Workforce Singapore's (WSG) professional conversion programmes (PCPs).
Some companies may have also filled new positions directly without using the government jobs portal MyCareersFuture.sg or notifying MOM or WSG, said the ministry.
Since June, about 60 fresh and recent graduates have entered the manufacturing sector through the SGUnited Traineeships Programme with more than 25 organisations.
OPPORTUNITIES IN BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE SUB-SECTOR
Among the total roles are about 400 in the biomedical science sector offered under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, with about three in four still unfilled.
The available positions include biotechnologists, production managers in cell and gene therapy, automation engineers, chemists, validation specialists, quality assurance managers and microbiologists.
"The biomedical science sub-sector remains a bright spot," said MOM, noting that output in the cluster grew nearly 27 per cent in the first half of this year, led by higher production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and biological products in the pharmaceuticals segment.
Around 25,000 workers are employed in the sector in Singapore, which houses biomedical science manufacturing plants from companies such as Becton Dickinson, GlaxoSmithKline and Amgen.
With manpower demand in the sector expected to grow, WSG and the Economic Development Board worked with industry stakeholders to launch a new PCP for advanced biopharmaceuticals manufacturing professionals and executives on Wednesday.
The programme is expected to benefit about 300 PMETs over the next 12 months.
Together with the existing PCP for medical technology engineer and assistant engineer, an additional 450 mid-career job seekers can kick-start new careers in the biomedical sector over the next three years, said the ministry.
INCREASED DEMAND FOR JOB-MATCHING SERVICES
MOM also said on Wednesday that more job seekers sought basic career advisory or job search assistance through WSG and the National Trades Union Congress' Employment and Employability Institute.
About 36,400 did so between January to July this year, a 30 per cent increase from the same period last year.
Of this number, 22,700 received individual career coaching - 20 per cent more than the same period last year.
MOM said the increase was despite restrictions during the circuit breaker period, as WSG and e2i continued to carry out activities such as job interviews and networking sessions with employers virtually, and job coaching through phone or video.
As a result, in the first half of this year, about 19,000 job seekers were placed in career conversion and reskilling programmes and activities - about 15 per cent more than in the same period last year.
