Firms urged to hire more mid-career PMETs

Companies here tend to focus on fresh school-leavers and foreigners to fill vacancies.

But hiring only such "plug and play" workerswill result in a loss to themselves as well as society, said Second Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo yesterday.

This is because if every company adopts the approach, the companies "will only ever poach from their competitors by bidding upwards", she told about 500 people at a Singapore Human Capital Summit.

Also, she does not see the talent pool expanding quickly enough to meet emerging needs, leading to rising costs as positions go unfilled.

A smarter move is to consider a "third source", she said. It comprises mid-career local professionals, managers, engineers and technicians (PMETs) who are also experienced.

This pool is increasingly becoming underemployed and unemployed. A priority of the Government is to encourage businesses to hire from this pool of workers.

At the same time, it is supporting these PMETs in three key ways, Mrs Teo said.

First, it is intensifying the Adapt and Grow series of schemes, including funding part of the wages and training fees of mid-career PMETs switching industries.

Second, it is focusing on sectors with the potential to create quality jobs for PMETs. They include financial and healthcare.

Third, it has developed a plan to strengthen the human resource industry, so companies can better develop their employees.

She cited Singapore Logistics Association, which - with the Supply Chain and Logistics Academy - came up with a training programme for newly-hired PMETs, as a company that realised the benefits of hiring "the third source".

FOR MORE, READ THE STRAITS TIMES TODAY