Placements for over 6,300 jobs, traineeships, attachments and training opportunities have been made in Singapore’s manufacturing sector under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills programmes.
These placements were made in some 1,000 companies, according to data published in the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Jobs Situation Report on August 26.
Of this, PMET placements stood at 5,100 with 2,400 individuals securing jobs, 1,800 getting traineeships and attachments and another 900 signing up for training programmes.
Non-PMET placements conversely were at 1,200 – with 800 securing employment, 300 getting traineeships and attachments and the remaining 200 undergoing training.
Between April and June alone, over 730 jobseekers entered the manufacturing sector through the SGUnited Jobs and Skills programme. About 62% of these are mid-career individuals who sought roles under Workforce Singapore’s Professional Conversion Programmes.
Meanwhile, some 60 fresh and recent graduates have been receiving training with over 25 host organisations since June, MOM reports.
“We expect more traineeship and attachment positions to be filled in the coming months,” it adds.
Quoting data from MyCareersFuture.sg, MOM’s report indicates that the top hiring roles in the sector comprise: electronics engineers, engineering professionals, administrative professionals, manufacturing technicians and production clerks.
The median salaries for these roles range from $1,500 to $4,700.
With some 472,000 workers, Singapore’s manufacturing sector accounts for about 20% of its GDP – making it one of the republic’s top engines for growth.
Singapore has also embarked on several transformation initiatives to enhance its manufacturing competitiveness.
This includes: establishing a strong base of leading technology and solutions providers to promote Industry 4.0 adoption; committing to invest S$3.2 billion in R&D in Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering to build up innovation capacity of companies embarking on Industry 4.0; and developing local talents through a nationwide series of modular courses.
Biomedical ‘bright spot’
Just like in manufacturing, the biomedical sciences sub-sector is deemed a bright spot.
This comes from the 26.7% year-on-year increase in its output between January and June, thanks to higher production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and biological products.
Home to best-in-class biomedical science manufacturing plants from leaders such as Becton Dickinson, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Amgen – the sector employees already employs 25,000 workers.
It is now offering close to 400 opportunities in roles such as: Biotechnologist, Production Manager (Cell & Gene Therapy), Automation Engineers, Chemist, Validation Specialists, Quality Assurance Managers and Microbiologists.
About 75% of these remain unfilled, MOM reports.
Even so, the government is looking to include opportunities for some 450 mid-career jobseekers over the next three years in anticipation of “an increase in manpower demand”.
