Singapore-based technology firm Sea, the parent company of e-commerce platform Shopee, will hire and train 500 Singaporeans over the next two years under a new collaboration with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).
Successful applicants, who will be trained in areas such as coding and data analytics through courses and on-the-job exposure, will comprise 400 entry-level job seekers and 100 mid-career hires with more than three years' experience.
Sea chairman and group chief executive Forrest Li and IMDA chief executive Lew Chuen Hong signed a memorandum of intent yesterday for the company-led training initiative, which will be the largest under IMDA's TechSkills Accelerator programme.
Sea said that all suitable trainees who complete the six-month training will be employed in technical roles across its various business entities, which include Shopee and Garena, the company's gaming arm. The available roles include those for software engineers, business analysts and user experience designers.
Trainees will be paid a monthly salary while undergoing training, and will also be guided by a mentor within the same department.
"In terms of working with industry to create job and training opportunities, our focus has really been about how we can help Singaporeans participate in these opportunities and derive the full benefits," said Communications and Information Minister S. Iswaran yesterday.
He said that employers in the tech sector are "very willing" to partner the Government in this effort, but their main challenge is finding Singaporeans who have the requisite skills or are willing to commit to learning.
This is where initiatives like Sea's company-led training come in, to develop the Singaporean core in a tech sector that is growing, and growing fast, Mr Iswaran said.
Job seekers can find more information and apply on the Sea and Shopee career websites at https://career.seagroup.com and https://careers.shopee.sg respectively.
Shopee's regional head of operations and people team Lim Teck Yong said the most important quality the company is looking for in potential hires is the passion and willingness to learn.
This can be demonstrated by having previously taken up courses in the relevant technical fields, for example, or by displaying a keen interest in and awareness of Shopee's operations and how they might be improved, Mr Lim said.
Business analyst Estelle Sim, 29, joined Shopee last December after four years in the architecture field. She spent the six-month training period completing two courses in data analytics and Python coding.
"The course on data analytics taught me to develop hypothesis-driven questions when analysing data," said Ms Sim.
"I also learnt how to leverage data analytics to make decisions and recommendations, both of which are essential to my role as a business analyst."
