Firms to get up to S$15k for hiring, training new ITE and poly grads

Singapore

EMPLOYERS involved in the government's new Earn and Learn work-study programme will get a grant of up to S$15,000 for each fresh polytechnic or Institute of Technical Education (ITE) graduate they hire.

Each Singaporean graduate who successfully joins a participating company will also get a special sign-on bonus of S$5,000.

Details of the initiative to match graduates to employers, with whom they can work and train towards an industry-recognised certification were unveiled by the SkillsFuture Secretariat on Wednesday, two days after Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam first talked about it in his budget speech.

The plan is to launch Earn and Learn sometime in late March.

For a start, it will cover four sectors - logistics, food manufacturing, food and beverage, and retail. The government will pick the participating companies based on their track record of being able to offer strong training and career-progression plans for their staff.

Among companies which have already agreed to take part are restaurant-and-bakery group Breadtalk and retailers Robinsons and the RSH group of companies. More sectors and companies will be added over time.

It is expected that Earn and Learn will benefit a third of all polytechnic and ITE graduates by 2025.

The SkillsFuture Secretariat said the aim of Earn and Learn is to enable these graduates to build on the skills and knowledge they had picked up in school and to ease their transition into the workforce.

Under Earn and Learn, they will be put through a programme lasting between 12 and 18 months at the company, where they will draw full salaries like all other employees.

The graduates will be assigned mentors as they undergo a skills-development programme in line with the company's talent-development plan.

Separately, the SkillsFuture Secretariat also shed more light on the new SkillsFuture Credit scheme, which will reach over two million Singaporeans in the first quarter of next year.

Mr Tharman had said on Monday that the government will, for a start, put S$500 into the SkillsFuture Credit account of all citizens aged 25 and up, so they can use these funds to offset the fees of government-supported courses in, for example, the polytechnic and universities, and for selected courses at institutions like LaSalle College of the Arts and SIM University.

The funds will be topped up regularly for life, and the credit does not expire. The secretariat said this scheme will cost the government about S$900 million to fund until 2020.

Meanwhile, Singaporeans in the earlier and middle stages of their careers who are keen to deepen their skills in growth sectors can take advantage of a new study award worth up to S$5,000, which can be use to help pay for the cost of their education and training.

The SkillsFuture secretariat identified advanced manufacturing, next-generation logistics, health care and financial services as examples of Singapore's future growth areas and those which meet social needs.

Workers more senior in their field can apply for a fellowship, a cash award of S$10,000 to help them master their skills even further. Up to 100 of these fellowships will be given out each year from 2016.

Employers who have played their part to develop their workforce will be eligible for a new award to be created; it will recognise them for having invested in employee training and developed structured skills-based career pathways for their staff.

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