Six in 10 or 27,280 of the job placements were in long-term positions, MOM said.

SINGAPORE – Close to 60,000 local jobseekers have been placed into job and training opportunities under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package from April to October, with more than 120,000 openings still currently available.

Of the total placements, more than 80 per cent, or 47,400, were in jobs, exceeding the National Jobs Council’s original target of at least 40,000 job placements.

Six in 10 or 27,280 of the job placements were in long-term positions, MOM said in its final weekly jobs situation report for the year on Thursday (Dec 17).

More than half or 56 per cent of the long-term jobs were in professional, manager, executive and technician (PMET) roles. Among the short-term job placements, 42 per cent were for PMETs.

Meanwhile, company-hosted traineeships and attachments, as well as other training opportunities, made up around 20 per cent or 11,000 of the total placements from April to October.

Overall, mature jobseekers aged 40 and above were well-represented among those placed in the job and training opportunities, said MOM. About half were placed into jobs, while 35 per cent were placed into company-hosted traineeships and attachments, and training opportunities.

Speaking to the media during a visit to UOB on Thursday, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said, “There is still a lot of work to do. Much as we are glad that we have arrived at a point where we are on a fairly sound footing, it is not time to celebrate.

“In fact, we want to redouble our efforts and to help as many employers and jobseekers as possible to make that transition.” 

Ms Teo also thanked the three-way partnership of MOM, NTUC and the Singapore National Employers Federation for their efforts in helping to stabilise the employment market. 

Healthcare sector saw highest job placements

The top five sectors that saw the most number of job and training placements were information and communications, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services and financial services.

The healthcare sector saw the highest number of job placements, with the majority of jobseekers taking on long-term jobs in both healthcare professional and executive roles as well as healthcare support and administrative support roles.

In terms of job and training placements, the information and communications sector placed the highest number of jobseekers, with about 70 per cent in company-hosted traineeships and attachments and training opportunities.

Currently, there are more than 123,000 jobs and training opportunities available.

Nearly three in four of these, or 91,300, are in jobs, with most of them being long-term jobs, said MOM.

Of the long-term jobs, about 73 per cent are for PMETs, while about 48 per cent of the available short-term jobs are for PMETs.

The sectors with the highest number of available job and training openings are information and communications (21,000), food services (11,300), professional services (11,000), manufacturing (10,800) and healthcare (7,200).

MOM said it will continue to focus on matching more jobseekers into the available openings together with unions and employers.

Jobseekers who wish to join the information and communications sector can tap on placement programmes such as the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) Mid-Career Advance, where they can gain job experience in areas such as user experience/interface design (UX/UI) development and digital marketing.

Mid-career individuals who are interested in the healthcare sector can apply for professional conversion programmes, or sign up for company-hosted traineeship and attachment opportunities.

Last modified: December 17, 2020