About 9,500 Job Seekers Have Benefitted From SGUnited Job Schemes; 4 in 5 Are Recent Graduates

Finding a job is no easy task.

Slap the pandemic onto it and you’ve got a recipe for never-ending stress and awful questions from your relatives wondering why you’re not slogging over the desk in a 9 to 5 job RIGHT NOW.

Unfortunately, the need for money to survive means that we have to work.

For some job seekers, the SGUnited schemes have helped them find a job in the coronavirus-ravaged economy.

What Are They About?

According to The Straits Times, around 9,500 job seekers have participated in either the SGUnited Traineeships or the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathway programmes.

Four in five of those taking part in the two schemes are recent graduates while the rest are mid-career workers.

The traineeship programme provides recent graduates or those who are expected to graduate soon the opportunity to gain relevant industrial work experience in the context of the pandemic.

Employers can then convert suitable trainees to regular employees, helping them secure a job in an unstable situation.

On the other hand, the mid-career scheme allows those in the middle of their careers to gain in-demand skills and widen their professional networks while waiting for permanent jobs.

About 2,500 organisations, including public agencies, have participated in the two schemes by offering traineeships or attachments. A large majority, nearly nine in 10 of them, are small and medium-sized enterprises.

The top sectors offering these opportunities are Infocomm technology and media, financial services and professional services.

Job Situation Report

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Workforce SG (WSG) had released a job situation report on Monday (12 Apr) that almost 200 people have found full-time employment while still undergoing training and another 160 have completed these programmes.

The two organisations expect another 15,000 traineeship and company attachment opportunities to be available in the coming months.

However, they note that as unemployment eases, the pace of applications to such programmes will slow down as well.

Nearly half of those who received at least one traineeship or attachment offer turned it down, with fresh graduates more likely than mid-career applicants to do so. The key reason cited was another traineeship or a full-time employment opportunity.

Both SGUnited Traineeships and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways programmes have since been extended and enhanced.

The government had extended financial support to firms that are hosting traineeships and attachments before 31 March 2022. In addition, training allowances were raised from 1 April 2021 for Institute of Technical Education graduates, diploma graduates and mid-career job seekers aged 40 and above.

85% of firms whose trainees have ended or are ending their traineeship or attachment by June have converted or intend to convert the trainees to regular employees.

As for the remaining firms who do not wish to do so, they’ve expressed that they either need more time to assess trainees, found trainees unsuitable or did not have an available headcount. Some trainees also intended to further their studies and thus could not become regular employees.

WSG pointed out that 70% of applicants were vying for 20% of the vacancies, as applicants focused on well-known organisations and popular sectors. As such, many did not secure interview opportunities.

In addition, skills mismatch was another factor why organisations did not continue reaching out to some applicants.

MOM and WSG urged applicants to widen their search and consider lesser-known organisations and encouraged firms to convert suitable trainees early.

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