Despite the gloomy economic forecast for 2009, there are still growth areas in the healthcare, education and tourism sectors that will see continuing demand for workers, said Mr Gan in his written reply to a question from Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP Liang Eng Hwa in Parliament on Monday.
Fresh graduates finding it tough to land a job should consider taking up post-grad studies during the economic downturn and start working when the job market improves, Acting Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong has suggested.
In his reply, Mr Gan said:
The employment outlook for new graduates in 2009 will be less rosy compared to 2007 and 2008. This is to be expected given the weak economic outlook for 2009.
Nonetheless, there are still growth areas that will see continuing demand for workers.
For example, the healthcare sector will continue growing over the next two years with the development of healthcare facilities such as the opening of the new Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. The Ministry of Health (MOH) said it now has 6,200 job vacancies, of which 4,500 will be filled in the next two years.
The civil service will also continue hiring; for example, the Ministry of Education recently announced that it will be hiring more than 7,000 teachers and support staff in 2009; while the Ministry of Home Affairs is looking to fill more than 1,000 vacancies across the various Home Team departments.
New jobs will also be created from the pipeline of new investments that will materialise in the manufacturing industry, such as pharmaceuticals and renewable energy.
In the tourism sector, the integrated resorts have also started their hiring efforts and are expected to provide more than 20,000 jobs, including at the PMET level, over the next few years. Graduates are encouraged to seek out these various opportunities and be realistic about job and wage expectations.
The Ministry of Manpower will continue to provide comprehensive and timely information on careers, jobs and skills in demand through the Career Compass, a career guide for students.
The pilot edition of the Career Compass was launched in February last year and students have found the career guide useful in helping them gain a better understanding of the opportunities in the job market, and make more informed choices on the courses of study and careers.
MOM has launched the latest edition of the Career Compass on a dedicated internet portal and is actively engaging the various Post Secondary Educational Institutions (PSEIs) to maximize our outreach efforts.
MOM and WDA will also be working with the PSEIs to organise job fairs for graduating students. Our universities and polytechnics are also stepping up their efforts to secure job placements for its graduates.
Besides organising career fairs, recruitment talks and career counselling, they have kept in close touch with industries and firms from hiring sectors.
For example, NUS Career Centre will intensify its work to engage more industries, including those from growth sectors such as gaming, environment and clean energy, to help find jobs for their graduates.
Our graduates must also make an extra effort to learn about the available jobs in the different sectors and be open to these various jobs which may not be what they have hoped for initially.
Some of the graduating students may consider proceeding with post-graduate education to acquire more knowledge and skills and enter the job market later when the situation has improved.
Various economic agencies also offer scholarships, such as MAS’s Finance Scholarship Programme, STB’s Tourism Industry Scholarships, and EDB’s Joint Industry Postgraduate Programme.
These aim to build up a critical mass of specialists in targeted fields. Fresh graduates can consider participating in these programmes to continue their post-graduate studies.
EDB has also announced a new training initiative, PREP-UP (Preparing for the Upturn), to help companies develop manpower capabilities in science and technology fields, which will open up even more opportunities for fresh graduates.
We will monitor the employment situation closely and assess whether more needs to be done to help new graduates access job opportunities.
- The Straits Times
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