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Oral Answer by Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister for Manpower, to Parliamentary Question on WDA programmes

Skills, training and development

NOTICE PAPER NO. 313 OF 2016 FOR THE SITTING ON 16 AUG 2016

QUESTION NO. 552 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: MR SAKTIANDI SUPAAT

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether there are plans for WDA programmes and initiatives to be extended to university graduates, in particular those who are unemployed; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider more grants and financial aid for older graduates looking to upskill themselves under the full sponsorship of professional conversion programmes.

Answer

  1. WDA programmes and initiatives are already extended to university graduates, including fresh graduates. This includes providing employment facilitation and career services, including career advisory, job fairs and resources on job search.   In fact, in 2015, of the job seekers assisted by WDA and e2i, 17% are hold a degree qualification.
  2. PMETs including degree holders can also access programmes such as Professional Conversion Programmes (PCP), the Career Support Programme (CSP) and P-Max to transit to new jobs including in the SMEs. In particular, older PMETs are already offered a higher level of career and employment support. Under the PCP, companies which hire PMETs aged 40 and above will receive 90% wage support (or 20% more than those younger), up to a cap of $4,000 during the training, on top of existing training subsidies. The CSP is also specially designed for mid-career PMETs aged 40 and above. The Government pays between 10% and 40% first year’s wages for mature PMETs deployed under the CSP.