Mr Teo Ser Luck at the Workforce Advancement Summit 2015

SPEECH BY MR TEO SER LUCK, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE WORKFORCE ADVANCEMENT SUMMIT 2015 ON THURSDAY, 16 JULY 2015, 9.30AM AT LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE

Mr Chan Chong Beng, Chairman of Workforce Advancement Federation,

Mr Gilbert Tan, CEO of e2i

Governing Council and Members of the Federation,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good Morning. I am happy to join you at this morning’s inaugural Workforce Advancement Summit organised by the Workforce Advancement Federation (WAF).

Turning Challenges into Competencies through the Workforce

The global economy has only managed a weak recovery since the Global Financial Crisis seven years ago and the recent developments of the European debt crisis have caused greater uncertainty and economic volatility for businesses. In Singapore, tightening foreign worker policies and the small pool of local workforce have also contributed to manpower constraints. The Ministry of Manpower’s labour market report released last month also highlighted that our labour market is likely to remain tight.

With a tight labour market, businesses need to explore new ways to improve their productivity and operate on a more manpower-lean model. This is critical for sustainable business growth and profitability. To support manpower-lean business models, local companies need to attract and retain the right talents, motivate and equip them with the relevant skills sets and unleash their potential. A quality workforce is needed to support more productive processes, drive innovation and build competencies in this challenging environment. 

Engaging the Workforce

To cultivate quality employees with the right competencies to the sustain growth of our local businesses; businesses need to go beyond identifying current talent shortages and anticipate future talent needs to support innovation and internalisation. Businesses should put in place talent development strategies to ensure employees are future-ready, with relevant and deep skills. Good talent management will not only help in building stronger talent pipelines, but also enhance employee retention, which is highly crucial in driving long-term business performance. 

Government Initiatives to Support Talent Management 

The Government is committed to helping companies that recognise the growing importance of talent management and are keen to attract talent and develop employees. SkillsFuture, a nationwide effort to develop a future-ready workforce to support businesses and drive Singapore’s economic development, offers many initiatives which we plan to roll out for businesses to upgrade workers’ skillsets.   Through SkillsFuture, employers need to proactively develop every worker, providing career pathways and valuing their contributions based on skills. 

For a start, SMEs can tap on the industry expertise of the SkillsFuture Mentors in designing training initiatives. To meet future talent needs, SMEs can also strengthen their talent pipelines with support through the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme administered by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA). Employers can access fresh graduate talents from ITEs and polytechnics through the Earn and Learn Programme by providing structured on-the-job training and mentorship leading to industry-recognised certifications. Fresh graduates can look forward to a $5000 sign-on incentive and employers also get a grant of up to $15,000 to put in place mentorship, training and career development pathways. Another avenue through which businesses can obtain support to engage young talents is the SME Talent Programme (STP). Joining the STP will allow SMEs to obtain funding support for internship stipends and study sponsorships for students still studying in ITEs, Polytechnics and Universities, who will later serve their bonds in their sponsoring companies. Businesses can also tap on SPRING Singapore’s Innovation Capability Voucher (ICV) scheme or Capability Development Grant (CDG) to improve existing processes and develop new operational and training capabilities. Investing in employees and helping them to realise their potential will enable them to contribute more effectively to growth of your businesses with their improved skillsets.

Today, I am glad to also witness the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between WAF and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA).  The signing of this MOU marks another milestone towards stronger cooperation between employers and WDA to sustain Singapore’s economic competitiveness. The key areas of collaboration would include:

a.     Workforce Champion Series, which are interactive CEO engagement sessions with Business Leaders and Industry Experts for sharing of best workforce practices through regular learning journeys and company visits;

b.     Government-industry dialogues between government officials, senior industry representatives and business leaders to discuss key workforce issues and possible areas for alignment of government manpower policies to business needs, and lastly;

c.     Communities of Practices (COP) for members, which aims to promote innovative HR practices across all industry sectors which would boost our local companies’ competitiveness in the global economy.

d.     Enterprise Mentorship Programme, which match enterprises, including SMEs with industry leaders with progressive HR practices to gain practical advice on how they can also develop HR strategies to help them grow their businesses.     

Conclusion

In closing, I would also like to encourage all local businesses to make full use of the learning and mentoring opportunities that WAF has to offer and play an active role in developing your workforce. As WAF embarks on this meaningful cause to support local business communities in building a sustainable workforce, I am sure that WAF will make a positive impact on Singapore’s workforce. I hope you will benefit from the insightful sharing by the invited guest speakers and I wish you a fruitful session ahead. Thank you.