Mr Teo Ser Luck at the Opening Ceremony of ASME Forum 2013: Talent & Career

SPEECH BY MR TEO SER LUCK, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF ASME FORUM 2013: TALENT & CAREER, HELD ON 23 OCTOBER 2013, 10.15AM, AT ITE COLLEGE EAST

Mr Chan Chong Beng, President, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises

Mr Bruce Poh, Director and Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Technical Education

Distinguished guests and students,

A very good morning to all of you. I am very pleased to be here today at the ASME Forum, an event to specially profile our local companies and serve as a bridge between ITE students, young Singaporeans and the SMEs.

The annual ASME Forum, organised by the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), is unlike other career fairs. It is a day dedicated to showcasing local SMEs with good growth prospects and forward-looking HR practices and able to provide good and meaningful jobs for our emerging workforce. Through an SME job exhibition and career talks, students should take this opportunity to meet and learn about our local companies and the range of careers they offer.

SMEs as Attractive Employers

Working in an SME can present excellent opportunities for professional development and building business skills. Why do I say this? Firstly, because an SME is relatively smaller, job functions may be less structured.  This means that a talented person working in an SME will likely have the opportunity to work in a broader job scope and build experience in a wider variety of business and work situations. Secondly, because of the SME’s size, capable young people who have proved themselves have more headroom to attain positions of significant responsibility early in their careers. For these reasons, I hope to see more young talents come forward and take up the good job opportunities offered by our SMEs.

Channelling Good Local Talents to Good Local Companies

To the SMEs here today, I am heartened that you are proactively investing in your people. Effective HR practices and long-term investment are necessary for companies to attract, retain and develop the right talents. Local companies should review their HR programs and policies to look at ways to attract and incentivise their workers. And it is not through just monetary awards, it is also includes recognition and challenges to empower the young workers to want to work hard and to shine. By setting up robust HR practices, you will become more attractive as an employer for today’s young talents. Thus, giving you a leg up in the tight labour market.

Launched by SPRING in June this year, the SME Talent Programme is a way to bridge the gap between the local companies looking for local talent and students who wish to join local companies.  The STP helps local SMEs to attract and retain students from the Polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education (ITEs) by offering them study awards and job opportunities upon graduation. This will help SMEs build a strong core of locals for sustainable business growth.

Together with our partners from the Trade Associations and Chambers (or TACs), we aim to place about 3,000 students in 700 to 800 SMEs over the next five years, of which about half will be ITE students.

I am very encouraged by the interest shown so far in the STP. Over the last five months, seven TACs have come on board, and we have reached out to over 1,600 students across the manufacturing, engineering, F&B and professional services sectors. Of the 230 students who have applied, 32 students have been successfully placed in 15 SMEs in the last five months, and we expect to see more matches after the rest of the SMEs complete their interviews with the students. In addition, over 130 SMEs have expressed interest in sponsoring close to 300 positions for ITE students through the programme. I am confident that as we continue to build awareness of STP, more students and SMEs will come forward to seize this opportunity.

Making Progress Together

To the ITE students here today, the STP will provide you with the opportunity of securing a job before you graduate. The ASME Forum can be your starting point in looking for a good SME employer who is not just willing to sponsor your education, but also willing to train and develop you. The practical skills that you have acquired in ITE are in high demand by employers, who are constantly on the lookout for talented individuals who have a positive attitude and demonstrate the willingness to learn.

Many of our local companies recognise the valuable contributions ITE graduates bring to their organisations and have created specific HR policies to meet the needs and aspirations of ITE graduates. One SME that has done so is ABR Holdings Ltd which manages the Swensen’s restaurant chain. ABR Holdings believes in continuous development and career training for its staff and supports them in growing with the company. Mr Muhd Darwiis Bin Shahruddin is an ITE student who has been working part-time with ABR Holdings since December 2011 while he juggles his studies at ITE. In two months, he will be graduating from his Mechanical Technology NITEC course at ITE Central Ang Mo Kio. Despite being a part-timer, Muhd Darwiis has received equal opportunities for training and development at ABR. In recognition for his hard work, commitment and leadership qualities, Muhd Darwiis has grown from a customer service representative to a supervisor today.

There are also local SMEs who are prepared to groom staff who have perform well for higher positions and support them in continuous higher learning opportunities. For example, welding solutions provider, Allalloy Dynaweld Pte Ltd is an active recruiter of talents from ITEs. The company supports its promising employees in obtaining higher education qualifications from Diploma to Masters Degree. Ms Gladys Ng completed her Higher NITEC in Electronic Engineering at ITE Dover in 2008, and joined a large manufacturing company upon graduation. After four years, Gladys wanted a change in environment and decided to join Allalloy as she was impressed by their strong people development culture. Gladys is now working as a customer service assistant at Allalloy, and is responsible for coordinating deliveries and liaising with Allalloy’s customers. In the past year, Gladys’ good performance and drive to learn and excel has been recognised by Allaloy, who is sponsoring her in obtaining a Diploma in Sales and Marketing at PSB Academy.  She will be starting classes at the end of this month.

Conclusion

It is a long journey but it is a promising one. The prospects are there and I think SMEs are the ones who can immediately recognise and offer you greater job opportunities. For our SMEs and skilled labour to grow and thrive, we must be ready to continuously innovate, continue to learn and be humble, and take on more knowledge, if you can. I hope, together with the schools, industry, students, and companies, we will continue to work together so as to create a vibrant and quality workforce with good jobs for all Singaporeans.

With this, I wish everyone a fruitful ASME Forum 2013.

Thank you.