Speech at Power Up! Stay Competitive with COS & COP Ceremony
Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State , One Marina Boulevard, NTUC Auditorium
Mr Lim Yeow Khee, Chairman of the Manufacturing Generic Skills
WSQ Validation Committee
Industry, Union and Training Partners
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. Good morning. I am pleased to join you this morning to commemorate the graduation of the recent batch of 36 graduates receiving their Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification, or WSQ, certificates in Generic Manufacturing Skills.
EMPLOYMENT SITUATION IN MANUFACTURING SECTOR
2. Worldwide, manufacturing has been severely hit by the ongoing economic crisis and falling demand. No country has been spared, with factories in Germany, Taiwan, Japan, Eastern Europe, China, Singapore and many other countries shutting down production, some temporarily, others permanently.
3. As a result, manufacturing employment has also declined. Preliminary estimates from the Ministry of Manpower showed that employment in the sector declined by 19,900 in the first quarter of 2009. A total of 9,000 workers were also made redundant in the manufacturing sector in the first quarter, mainly from the electronics industry.
4. According to EDB's Survey of Business Expectations of the Manufacturing Sector, fewer companies (weighted average of 40%) expected a further deterioration in business situation for the period from April to September 2009, compared to a similar survey done three months ago (weighted average of 63%). In addition, the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in April improved to 49.2, a reading that reflected the smallest contraction in seven months. While it is too early to be conclusive that ‘green shoots' are emerging, public sentiments seem to be improving in recent months.
5. We can expect that the manufacturing sector will continue to be a vital part of Singapore's economy. To help companies lower costs and save jobs, the Government has introduced the Jobs Credit, Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) and SPUR-JOBS. These efforts to train our workers to develop new skills and capabilities will prepare us to seize new opportunities in the sector when the economy recovers.
WSQ IN GENERIC MANUFACTURING SKILLS
6. The WSQ in Generic Manufacturing Skills is an excellent example of how WDA works closely with tripartite partners to create opportunities for workers and to help businesses raise the capability of their staff. This effort began in early 2007, at a time when the economy was expanding very rapidly and the labour market was tight. To their credit, the Committee led by Mr Lim Yeow Khee, Chairman of the Manufacturing Generic Skills WSQ Validation Committee, and comprising employers and industry associations, acted out of a strong sense of urgency to develop a national skills qualification framework that could be recognised across the manufacturing sector. Thus, when the manufacturing sector began to experience a slowdown in late 2008, this programme was already in place and was among the first to be recognised under SPUR. By working steadfastly through the good times, our tripartite partners demonstrated their seriousness and commitment to skills upgrading, and in doing so, they positioned themselves to take advantage of SPUR when it was introduced.
7. The response to the tripartite efforts in promoting Generic Manufacturing Skills training has been encouraging. To date, about 30% of the 1, 300 companies and about 55% of the 56,000 company-sponsored workers participating in SPUR are from the manufacturing sector.
8. I am glad to note that seated amongst us today are some of these workers. These 36 graduands from eight companies have undergone Certificate in Generic Manufacturing Skills (CGM), Certified Operations Specialist (COS) and Certified Operations Professional (COP) training. I applaud both the trainees and their employers for recognising the importance of skills upgrading, and for acting upon that belief.
9. Six of these graduands are from Murata Electronics Singapore Pte Ltd, one of the first companies to come onboard SPUR. Murata has sent 33 supervisory staff for COP training. The employees have benefited greatly from these courses where new learning points were adopted immediately towards creating a more effective work team and in achieving greater efficiency across various processes.
10. One example is Mr Abdul Hamid bin Naina Mohamed. Mr Hamid was a Storekeeper, earning $1,500 a month. He underwent training in WSQ CGM (Logistics Track) last year. The training helped him to secure a job as an Assistant Warehouse Supervisor with a salary of $1,700 even before he has completed the course. Although Mr Hamid has been on the job for only seven months, he has already received good feedback from his employer on his exemplary performance. Mr Hamid has since been given a wider job scope which includes higher responsibilities with six to ten safety representative officers under his supervision. This is testimony that training benefits the individual as much as the company.
ENCOURAGING RESPONSE FROM EMPLOYERS
11. Today, I am pleased that 34 manufacturing companies will be pledging their commitment to send workers for training under SPUR. They come from different sub-sectors including precision engineering, electronics, automotive, petrochemicals and logistics.
12. One such example is ComfortDelgro Engineering Pte Ltd which has sent 75 of its staff for training under the COS programme. This is equivalent to 11% of the company's workforce being trained over the last two months in nationally-accredited skills. Moving forward, the company intends to send another 30 workers for similar courses in June. It will also be working with training providers to offer more training places in the later half of the year.
13. I hope that more companies will step forward to join these 34 companies in their commitment to send staff for training by leveraging on SPUR, as an effort to save jobs and retain skilled talent. In doing so, they will sustain long-term competitiveness and be ready to seize new opportunities when the economy recovers.
CONCLUSION
14. Let me conclude by congratulating the WSQ graduates who are with us today. I am sure that the training you have received will provide you with the skills you need to advance in your career.
15. Thank you.