More than 5,000 jobs in digital sector on the way
ICT industry doing well, Goverment to ramp up efforts to help workers reskill
More than 5,000 jobs in the thriving digital sector are on the way for Singaporeans, as the Government doubles down on efforts to help workers here seize opportunities to reskill and land new roles amid the challenging economic climate.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran said the jobs are in fields like cyber security, digital marketing and data analytics, adding that in the digital push, companies in badly-hit sectors will benefit too.
Those that adopt digital solutions, such as e-commerce platforms, will receive up to $10,000 each under a new scheme.
Mr Iswaran said the infocomm technology (ICT) sector is doing well despite the hits Singapore's economy took due to the disruptions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
From January to March this year, the sector expanded by 3.5 per cent and saw the creation of 1,100 jobs.
"Digital and tech roles are in demand within the ICT sector, but also across the rest of the economy as all sectors seek digital solutions," said Mr Iswaran.
Mr Iswaran said a total of 5,500 jobs will be created over the next two to three years in this sector through the Government's TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) programmes.
Launched in 2016, TeSA is a SkillsFuture initiative by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), which is working in partnership with agencies like Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore to design programmes that provide training for workers and match them to ICT jobs.
By 2023, the Government will be enhancing its Company-Led Training (CLT) programme, to place 3,000 workers in new jobs in the sector.
Under this CLT programme, companies partner with the Government and receive financial support to train workers to acquire useful tech skills at an accelerated pace.
Workers can be trained in emerging areas such as 5G, Internet of Things, and cloud computing, and gain core ICT know-how in fields like software engineering, cyber security and data analytics.
Also in the same timeframe, the similar TeSA Mid-Career Advanced programme, which trains and places jobs for professionals aged 40 and above, will aim to create 2,500 jobs.
DIGITAL RESILIENCE BONUS
In his speech, the minister also gave more details of the new Digital Resilience Bonus (DRB) that aims to help businesses in two sectors badly affected by Covid-19 to digitalise - food and beverage and retail.
The DRB scheme may see businesses that adopt tech-driven solutions to better their processes, such as in accounting, human resource or inventory management, receive $2,500.
They will also have to have in place PayNow Corporate and Pan European Public Procurement On-Line e-invoicing.
A secondary bonus of $2,500 under the DRB will be paid to businesses if they build an online shopfront or e-commerce platform, said Mr Iswaran.
Additionally, companies can receive a further $5,000 should they decide to provide "advanced digital solutions", which includes data mining and data analytics.
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