There is a silver lining for the unemployed professionals of Singapore as the government has hired two private sector employment agencies to help them find work, announced Singapore Workforce (WSG) on Thursday.
One of the agencies is UK-based Ingeus which started operations on Monday at the Lifelong Learning Institute at Paya Lebar, while another will start operations at the end of the second quarter of this year.
“The agencies will help eligible jobseekers with customised career advisory and coaching sessions. This will enable them to assess their fitness for certain job roles and industry, based on their work experiences, skills, interests and capabilities. Jobseekers will gain access to industry knowledge and insights and receive coaching in resume preparation, managing of interviews and profiling themselves to prospective employers to highlight their strengths,” said WSG in the press release.
It added, “Both the agencies will localise their know-how and assistance models to help local unemployed professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) get back into the workforce.”
The government's move to work with the private-sector employment agencies was announced by Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say in Parliament last month.
The agencies were selected based on their focus, track record and capabilities in matching active jobseekers to jobs. They will help eligible jobseekers with customised career advice and coaching sessions.
Only unemployed PMET jobseekers who have been actively searching for jobs for at least three months or have been made redundant may be assigned to the career matching providers after approaching the WSG Career Centres or the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC)'s e2i centres for Career Matching Services.
Tan Choon Shian, Chief Executive of Workforce Singapore, said, “WSG is constantly seeking ways to facilitate more effective job matching between jobseekers and hiring employers. This pilot demonstrates WSG’s commitment to create more avenues and intensify efforts and to assist active PMET jobseekers who face challenges in their job search journey.”
