Electronics sector opened up 1,900 jobs since April
Around 1,900 jobs were made available in the fast-growing electronics industry between April and September, with plenty still on offer, the Ministry of Manpower said yesterday.
The vast majority of these posts, put up by more than 130 companies, were for professionals, managers, executives and technicians, mostly in technical roles.
Monthly salaries for manufacturing engineers in the electronics cluster range from $1,800 to $3,225, with a median of $2,575, while electronics or mechanical engineers would typically get between $4,500 and $6,000.
Non-technical roles such as sales and marketing executives could fetch between $2,800 and $8,500 a month, with a median of $3,450.
In addition to the jobs, there are about 850 company-hosted traineeships and attachments as well as 150 training positions on offer in the industry.
Manpower Minister Josephine Teo told a briefing yesterday that jobseekers might think they need a relevant technical background to work in electronics and the larger manufacturing sector, but this is not necessarily the case, even if many of the positions are technical roles.
"Jobseekers who have a technical background but come from different sectors, may already possess many transferable skills.
"By acquiring additional domain knowledge, these jobseekers can access opportunities in the electronics industry," she said, noting that unfamiliarity with what these jobs entail may be why applications are on the low side.
Just over 220 people, which is less than 10 per cent of the total positions available, were placed in jobs and traineeships between April and last month. Close to half of those who took up new roles were workers over 40 years old.
Perhaps greater awareness of the opportunities available will help boost application rates, said Mrs Teo, who was speaking after a visit to semiconductor company GlobalFoundries Singapore.
"It would be a great pity... if the companies are not able to fill these positions. Either they cannot grow as fast as they wish or they have to find some way of filling the positions, which in a sense, will be a loss to us, a loss to Singaporeans."
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