SINGAPORE - Students graduating into sectors hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, such as aerospace and aviation, are being supported by the Government through the SGUnited Traineeships Programme, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo told Parliament on Monday (Nov 2).

About half of those in aerospace engineering, for instance, have been able to secure internships related to their field of study, and about 60 per cent of aviation management students have been able to intern in related roles, she said.

The Government is also watching the employment outcomes of graduating students closely, and efforts will be made for them to return to such sectors in the future if there is demand for them, she added.

Mrs Teo was responding to questions by Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines GRC) on what was being done to prepare students in aerospace, aviation and hospitality-related disciplines who are graduating in 2021, in view of the slowdown in the aviation sector.

She said that the Ministry of Education's Graduate Employment Survey for graduates in 2020 will be published in the first quarter of next year (2021), and this will give some indication of the prospects for the cohort graduating in 2021.

In the interim, more than 21,000 traineeship places from about 3,300 organisations have been made available under the SGUnited Traineeships Programme as a pre-emptive move to supplement future job availability, she said.

Institutes of Higher Learning here have also started comprehensive career guidance and assistance programmes to prepare graduating students, specifically to find career opportunities in adjacent sectors.

New electives are also being introduced to equip students with emerging cross-sector skills such as data analytics and visualisation, programming and digital marketing - skills which are generally sought-after, said Mrs Teo.

As for whether there will be opportunities for students to eventually return to work in the field directly related to their area of study, she said: "I think our record has been that whenever the industry has a need, and there are people that would like to join the industry, then we will make available career conversion programmes.

"If there is a demand for such students to return to the sector, (if) some top-up is required, then I would like to assure Mr Choo that every effort would be made to avail such programmes to them."

Earlier, Mr Sharael Taha (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) had asked how many applications there were for the Job Redesign Grant when the scheme ended this March, and the number of jobs that were successfully redesigned for elderly workers.

From July 2016 to March 2020, the WorkPro Job Redesign Grant benefited more than 2,500 companies and more than 24,000 senior workers, she said.

While the grant has been discontinued, firms can still apply for other grants for job redesign, said Mrs Teo. The Government will provide a higher level of support to employers of seniors to help such workers stay in work, such as through the recently announced Jobs Growth Incentive.

Mrs Teo said in her ministry's experience, companies which have a significant part of their workforce in their 40s or older do recognise the need to step up efforts to redesign work for them.

"They know very well that when their seniors retire, (companies) stand to lose a very valuable part of the workforce... The issue is not so much the willingness, it's much more about the ability to do so."

That is why the Productivity Solutions Grant will be expanded later this year (2020) for firms who want to engage job redesign consultancy services, on top of their own job redesign efforts, she said.

Associate Professor Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) asked what was being done to help job seekers who are close to retirement age and want to stay in the same job, but face discrimination.

Mrs Teo replied that barriers will be quite high for job seekers who want to get back to their former role or sector, if such jobs or sectors have seen quite a lot of displacement.

"The fact that they were displaced does suggest that in that particular sector, it is already not doing so well," she noted.

Older workers, like all job seekers, would benefit from keeping an open mind and being willing to consider transitioning to other sectors, she said.

"One thing we have found to be quite encouraging is where the senior workers is willing (and) the employers can see the enthusiasm and willingness to learn, quite a large number of them have been able to take part in our conversion programmes and to enter new job roles or new sectors."

Mrs Teo said she has often met participants of professional conversion or place-and-train programmes in their late 50s, even in their early 60s.

"More and more, we find that employers recognise that if they are open to hiring people who bring with them rich experiences, then in fact they serve as a mentor to the younger colleagues in the organisation."

But she recognised that some older workers have concerns about ageism.

"Whenever there are cases where they felt that they were not fairly considered, we encourage them to approach the MOM, and we will reach out to the employer to understand how to support them better, so that all job seekers know that they are being considered fairly."