Written Answer by Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng on PQ on Skills Path Initiative

NOTICE PAPER NO. 643 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 14 SEPTEMBER 2021

QUESTION NO. 1611 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Yip Hon Weng

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the projected number of job seekers who may expect to benefit from the Skills Path Initiative; (b) whether the Ministry has firm plans and a timeline to include more occupations under the Skills Path Initiative; and (c) whether the National Jobs Council will be involved in curating the available courses.

Answer

1. Skills Path is a LinkedIn program to match local jobseekers to jobs based on skills instead of traditional criteria like educational qualifications. At the same time, Skills Path also helps hiring employers to broaden their talent pool and build a more diverse workforce.

2. LinkedIn’s Skills Path is aligned with our objective of getting our locals into good jobs. While we do not design or run Skills Path, the National Jobs Council sees value in this private sector initiative and supports it by making it better known among jobseekers and companies. This includes co-organising workshops with LinkedIn to help mature jobseekers sign up and create LinkedIn profiles, as well as promoting Skills Path through WSG’s Career Restarter website and MOM’s social media channels.

3. LinkedIn has announced that six job roles have been curated for the pilot and eight companies have come onboard for a start. LinkedIn has plans to bring more companies and local jobseekers onboard the Skills Path initiative over the next few months.

4. Matching jobseekers and employers is a whole-of-community endeavour. Private sector initiatives, such as the one by LinkedIn, contribute innovative ideas and approaches to a richer ecosystem of solutions that can meet the diverse needs of jobseekers and employers. MOM and WSG will continue to nurture these partnerships and look forward to forging new ones.