<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published May 4, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>$100m job boost for professionals, execs, technicians
New schemes will build on the existing Spur package
By CHEN HUIFEN
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(SINGAPORE) The government yesterday fleshed out the new measures to help a group that is increasingly feeling the pinch in the current downturn - the PMETs or professionals, managers, executives and technicians.
The government is allocating another $100 million in enhanced measures that are mostly directed at helping them on the employment front.
The new initiatives will build on the existing $600 million Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur) package announced in November last year.
Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said they were added following feedback from employers. The enhancements were to ensure that the government's support schemes remain 'relevant and effective in helping them tackle the downturn'.
In particular, the Spur- Jobs scheme will complement the existing Spur programme which already pays companies up to $1,100 a month in absentee payroll for each worker that a company sends for Spur training.
It will provide a company up to $400,000 in grants to support their efforts in recruitment and training, as well as in job redesign projects.
However, the $50 million programme is only available to companies that have not retrenched any of its staff in the last three months.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>'I think we also want to make sure that the companies do not take advantage of this scheme to turn over their manpower, so that they retrench some and then use this scheme to recruit new workers,' explained Mr Gan.
=> I.e discourage companies from retrenching FTrash and hire Sporns?
'So we want to ensure that companies who are really tapping on this scheme should be companies that are growing . . . And companies that are in the growth sector will not be retrenching in the short period in the recent history.'
Spur-Jobs is aimed at encouraging companies to recruit and retain local workers who are trainees of Spur and other training programmes supported by the Workforce Development Agency.
It may also be used to offset the costs of in-house training and non-Spur external training.
The cap in absentee payroll subsidy under the Spur scheme will also be raised to $1,600 per worker undergoing full-time training. To take effect from May 15, this will cost the government $50 million.
In addition, the existing Professional Skills Programme (PSP) to help PMETs switch professions by converting or gaining new skills, will also be expanded.
It now has a PSP Traineeship option for displaced PMETs to gain meaningful industry experience in an organisation positioned in growth sectors. About 2,500 traineeships will be offered over the next two years.
'This traineeship scheme is a supplementary scheme to also help some of these fresh graduates to gain working experience, especially in growth sectors where we want to develop capabilities,' said Mr Gan.
Even as the government said there will be 45,000 new jobs created in the next two years, he urged fresh graduates to be flexible, adaptable and have realistic expectations in view of the challenging economic situation.
The additional budget will be carved out from the $600 million set aside for the Spur programme.
The PMETs are among the most affected in recent rounds of job losses. According to Ministry of Manpower statistics, 3,790 PM+ETs were made redundant in Q4 of last year, from 950 in Q3.
In December last year, the number of jobless degree holders more than doubled to 14,800, from 6,200 in the year-ago period.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>$100m job boost for professionals, execs, technicians
New schemes will build on the existing Spur package
By CHEN HUIFEN
<TABLE class=storyLinks border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(SINGAPORE) The government yesterday fleshed out the new measures to help a group that is increasingly feeling the pinch in the current downturn - the PMETs or professionals, managers, executives and technicians.
The government is allocating another $100 million in enhanced measures that are mostly directed at helping them on the employment front.
The new initiatives will build on the existing $600 million Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur) package announced in November last year.
Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said they were added following feedback from employers. The enhancements were to ensure that the government's support schemes remain 'relevant and effective in helping them tackle the downturn'.
In particular, the Spur- Jobs scheme will complement the existing Spur programme which already pays companies up to $1,100 a month in absentee payroll for each worker that a company sends for Spur training.
It will provide a company up to $400,000 in grants to support their efforts in recruitment and training, as well as in job redesign projects.
However, the $50 million programme is only available to companies that have not retrenched any of its staff in the last three months.
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=> I.e discourage companies from retrenching FTrash and hire Sporns?
'So we want to ensure that companies who are really tapping on this scheme should be companies that are growing . . . And companies that are in the growth sector will not be retrenching in the short period in the recent history.'
Spur-Jobs is aimed at encouraging companies to recruit and retain local workers who are trainees of Spur and other training programmes supported by the Workforce Development Agency.
It may also be used to offset the costs of in-house training and non-Spur external training.
The cap in absentee payroll subsidy under the Spur scheme will also be raised to $1,600 per worker undergoing full-time training. To take effect from May 15, this will cost the government $50 million.
In addition, the existing Professional Skills Programme (PSP) to help PMETs switch professions by converting or gaining new skills, will also be expanded.
It now has a PSP Traineeship option for displaced PMETs to gain meaningful industry experience in an organisation positioned in growth sectors. About 2,500 traineeships will be offered over the next two years.
'This traineeship scheme is a supplementary scheme to also help some of these fresh graduates to gain working experience, especially in growth sectors where we want to develop capabilities,' said Mr Gan.
Even as the government said there will be 45,000 new jobs created in the next two years, he urged fresh graduates to be flexible, adaptable and have realistic expectations in view of the challenging economic situation.
The additional budget will be carved out from the $600 million set aside for the Spur programme.
The PMETs are among the most affected in recent rounds of job losses. According to Ministry of Manpower statistics, 3,790 PM+ETs were made redundant in Q4 of last year, from 950 in Q3.
In December last year, the number of jobless degree holders more than doubled to 14,800, from 6,200 in the year-ago period.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
