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Lim Swee Say: Fewer jobs will be created in the next 3 to 5 years

Singapore is unlikely to return to the days of 100,000 to 120,000 jobs being created annually. Instead, annual job growth is expected to "stabilise" in the range of 25,000 to 40,000 positions in the next three to five years, Channel NewsAsia reported.

Speaking on the sidelines of a career fair for the aviation industry on Wednesday, Lim Swee Say, Minister for Manpower said "More importantly, we expect the quality of jobs to continue to improve, to be better."

Minister Lim added that the ministry is also trying to minimise the problems of "missed matches" by jobseekers unfamiliar with the jobs available and where to find them, and mismatches between jobseekers' skills and their jobs - doing so through Professional Conversion Programmes (PCP).

The Manpower Minister also outlined three main priorities for the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) this year:

  • Strengthening professional conversion beyond entry level, to include the mid-career level professionals transit into new jobs and careers
  • To help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) gain greater access to experienced professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs)
  • Ensuring that inclusive career and employment support is offered, to build a more inclusive workforce, especially for rank-and-file workers.
According to Ministry of Manpower (MOM) statistics, Government agencies placed more than 15,000 jobseekers who faced "missed matches" last year, up from 14,000 the year before. They also placed 4,000 jobseekers who had mismatches between their skills and existing employment, up from 3,000 in 2015.

Rising unemployment continues to be a concern for the MOM, Minister Lim said, attributing the trend to both lower job growth due to the restructuring of the economy and an ageing workforce.

"We continue to apply our minds (to) what we can do, what more we can do to ensure we can keep it in check," he added.

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