[h=1]TAN CHUAN JIN: WE DO NOT WANT TO MAKE DEGREES TOO EASY TO GET IN SINGAPORE[/h]
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13 Oct 2014 - 8:33pm
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This morning, a dramatic headline caught my eye. “More Grads Suffer Underemployment” on pg A3 of The Straits Times.
I was rather concerned. Did something happen? We have been watching this space and tracking the various data points. The situation still remains rather positive.
Technically the headline was not wrong. But the impression created was somehow rather different. The underemployment rate of degree holders has only increased very slightly, from a very low 2.2% to 2.3% between 2012 and 2013, as shown by the statistics in the article. In fact, our various figures do vary slightly from year to year, but it is not unexpected. The 0.1%-point change doesn't indicate any particular trend as yet. The proportion of degree graduates in our resident labour force has also increased, and the fluctuations have to be seen in this context. Also, we have kept both unemployment (2.8%) and underemployment (2.3%) of graduates low. Of course, we should still look out for those affected, but the situation remains positive by any standards.
But there are two very real concerns. Firstly, I have highlighted the impact of ever-increasing number of graduates. The problem is not upon us yet but we do want to avoid ending up in a situation like that in South Korea or Taiwan where too easily available 'degrees' result in serious underemployment. In fact qualification inflation is happening in a number of developed countries as well. We are quite some ways away from that situation but we need to be careful.
The other concern, which is real and upon us, is the changing nature of the economy. We cannot guarantee that our respective sectors will remain constant throughout our lifetime. As the article suggested, we also cannot afford to remain complacent, whether mid-level workers or otherwise. Job seekers must upskill and re-skill themselves. This is imperative because this will be our insurance in the job market when change happens.
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What are we doing to assist? We try to help individuals build up awareness of knowledge and competencies needed to take on new jobs through WDA, and to also provide up-skilling opportunities. The Jobs Bank portal which opened in July this year has also further increased the visibility of job openings to Singaporeans.
We plan to stay ahead of the game by working with employers, unions as well as educational and training institutions to provide quality jobs, a variety of pathways for individuals to develop their potential, and an ecosystem that supports lifelong learning and continuous upgrading.
Change will be the constant. We just have to be ready for it when it happens.
Tan Chuan Jin
Manpower Minister
*Article first appeared on his Facebook page here.
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13 Oct 2014 - 8:33pm
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This morning, a dramatic headline caught my eye. “More Grads Suffer Underemployment” on pg A3 of The Straits Times.
I was rather concerned. Did something happen? We have been watching this space and tracking the various data points. The situation still remains rather positive.
Technically the headline was not wrong. But the impression created was somehow rather different. The underemployment rate of degree holders has only increased very slightly, from a very low 2.2% to 2.3% between 2012 and 2013, as shown by the statistics in the article. In fact, our various figures do vary slightly from year to year, but it is not unexpected. The 0.1%-point change doesn't indicate any particular trend as yet. The proportion of degree graduates in our resident labour force has also increased, and the fluctuations have to be seen in this context. Also, we have kept both unemployment (2.8%) and underemployment (2.3%) of graduates low. Of course, we should still look out for those affected, but the situation remains positive by any standards.
But there are two very real concerns. Firstly, I have highlighted the impact of ever-increasing number of graduates. The problem is not upon us yet but we do want to avoid ending up in a situation like that in South Korea or Taiwan where too easily available 'degrees' result in serious underemployment. In fact qualification inflation is happening in a number of developed countries as well. We are quite some ways away from that situation but we need to be careful.
The other concern, which is real and upon us, is the changing nature of the economy. We cannot guarantee that our respective sectors will remain constant throughout our lifetime. As the article suggested, we also cannot afford to remain complacent, whether mid-level workers or otherwise. Job seekers must upskill and re-skill themselves. This is imperative because this will be our insurance in the job market when change happens.
<ins id="aswift_1_expand" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: inline-table; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><ins id="aswift_1_anchor" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: currentColor; width: 336px; height: 280px; display: block; visibility: visible; position: relative; background-color: transparent; border-image: none;"><iframe name="aswift_1" width="336" height="280" id="aswift_1" frameBorder="0" marginWidth="0" marginHeight="0" scrolling="no" vspace="0" hspace="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="left: 0px; top: 0px; position: absolute;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></ins></ins>
What are we doing to assist? We try to help individuals build up awareness of knowledge and competencies needed to take on new jobs through WDA, and to also provide up-skilling opportunities. The Jobs Bank portal which opened in July this year has also further increased the visibility of job openings to Singaporeans.
We plan to stay ahead of the game by working with employers, unions as well as educational and training institutions to provide quality jobs, a variety of pathways for individuals to develop their potential, and an ecosystem that supports lifelong learning and continuous upgrading.
Change will be the constant. We just have to be ready for it when it happens.
Tan Chuan Jin
Manpower Minister
*Article first appeared on his Facebook page here.
