More than 4,700 SGUnited traineeships filled as at early-December: Josephine Teo

MORE than 4,700 opportunities under the SGUnited Traineeships Programme (SGUT) have been taken up as at early-December, with about 430 mid-career jobseekers placed into attachments across some 170 host companies under the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme (SGUP), said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media after visiting Singtel together with Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam to engage individuals on the SGUT and SGUP, she said that while the SGUP, which was launched in August, is "gaining some momentum", it is "not as fast as we would like".

Mrs Teo said this is a result of mid-career jobseekers being more selective than fresh graduates.

"The individuals that are potentially being considered, they would have had some years of work experience... naturally, they would like to be able to put these skills to use.

"Unlike fresh graduates, anything will be very useful to (them), from the mid-career person's point of view... we already have some sense of what we are suited for and we also have some sense of how we can best contribute to our prospective employers."

As such, some host organisations under the SGUP have also had to adjust their programme content to better cater to the experience level of the applicants.

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Another difficulty faced was that given how jobseekers would "naturally" pursue full-time employment over such attachments, "they took time to warm up to the SGUP", said Mrs Teo.

Nonetheless, she noted that such opportunities can help mid-career individuals "move into areas that they might not have initially thought of", and urged more employers and jobseekers to take advantage of the SGUP to "explore and make available new options for themselves".

On the SGUT front, Mrs Teo said that discussions are ongoing with the Ministry of Education on future plans for the programme.

Separately, in response to queries regarding workplace arrangements following Monday's announcement on Singapore moving to Phase Three of its reopening at the end of the month, Mrs Teo said the government is reviewing the situation, adding that more updates will be given at a later date.