6,370 jobs available in Singapore's manufacturing sector: Josephine Teo

THE manufacturing sector in Singapore has continued to create more jobs with increased output, and even hard-hit sub-sectors like marine and offshore need workers to support their transformation efforts.

Some 10,400 jobs and training and attachment slots are now available under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package in the sector, which saw output jump 24.2 per cent in September over the same month in 2019.

Manpower Minister Josephine Teo noted that about 61 per cent or 6,370 of these openings and placements are jobs - a near-twofold increase from the last reported 3,200 jobs available at end-August.

Company-hosted traineeships/attachments make up 26 per cent of the total, while training places make up 13 per cent.

"The number of individuals who entered the manufacturing sector through the various initiatives under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package nearly tripled from end-June (730) to mid-October (2,120)," she added.

Mrs Teo, along with Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing, was speaking in a virtual press conference on Monday morning after visiting Sembcorp Marine.

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Mr Chan said business in the marine and offshore industry has already dropped in recent years following the collapse in global oil prices. The Covid-19 pandemic has only "aggravated" its plight by reducing contracting activities and delaying deliveries of new vessels.

But with government support, he said the industry - led by the three big local players Keppel Offshore & Marine, Sembcorp Marine and ST Engineering Marine - has pushed on in building its engineering capabilities despite the business downturn and diversified into growth areas like liquefied natural gas (LNG), offshore wind, as well as smart and digital products.

"Singapore companies are making good gains in these new growth areas, having secured S$1.5 billion and S$1 billion worth of LNG and offshore wind-related projects respectively in 2019," Mr Chan added.

Added Mrs Teo: "Although the marine and offshore sub-sector has been hard hit in recent years, employers remain committed to pivoting to seize longer-term opportunities."

She said there are 800 openings - 87 per cent of them jobs - in the industry and most of them are for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), with monthly salaries ranging from S$2,000 to S$7,500.

"Jobseekers and workers can look forward to taking on new and higher-value job roles created as a result of marine and offshore's ongoing transformation efforts," Mrs Teo said. These include jobs like automation engineers, data scientists and process engineers. The industry employs 77,000 workers.

Overall, eight in 10 of the 10,400 openings and placements available are for PMETs, with most of them in the electronics, precision engineering and food manufacturing industries.

The monthly salaries for the PMET roles range from S$1,700 to S$6,000, while for the non-PMET jobs, they range from S$1,300 to S$2,500.