Revamped Job Redesign Reskilling (JRR) Programme for Singapore's hotel industry

As a start, 200 existing hotel workers can look forward to taking on enhanced careers in the industry, through the JRR Programme; the list of whitelisted roles available for a quicker application process includes digital marketing executives, safety and security officers, and more.

Singapore's hotel industry will now be receiving more targeted support under Workforce Singapore's (WSG) Professional Conversion Programme (PCP), as part of the revamped and enhanced Job Redesign Reskilling (JRR) Programme for the Hotel Industry.

Through this, WSG, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) will continue supporting job redesign projects rolled out in tandem with hotels' adoption of technology.

In a press release on Friday (12 March 2021), WSG said that as a start, 200 existing hotel workers can look forward to taking on enhanced careers in the industry, through the JRR Programme.

It noted: "As hotels in Singapore prepare for the norm after COVID-19, they are also accelerating their shift towards contactless interactions and crowd management, which are mainly enabled and supported by technology. This shift in turn presents a key opportunity for hoteliers to step up their enhancement of hotel jobs and translate them into more attractive, meaningful and sustainable hotel careers for Singaporeans through job redesign and technology adoption."

In line with this, existing workers will need to be equipped with the skills to competently assume the new or enhanced job scope augmented by technology. They will also be trained in emerging skills aligned with their company’s digitalisation efforts and which would bring about better career progression and productivity.

Details on the JRR Programme for the Hotel Industry

Since the roll-out of the first iteration of the programme, more than 1,400 workers across more than 55 hotels in Singapore have undergone reskilling and embarked on new or enhanced job roles such as lobby specialists, hotel ambassadors and facility technicians. Employees who underwent these projects were able to expand their skills repertoire and take on cross-functional roles, thus expanding their career runways. This has also helped hoteliers overcome manpower crunch in some functions and excess manpower in others during the pandemic.

To further streamline and ensure a quicker and smoother application process for the enhanced programme, WSG has curated a list of 16 whitelisted job roles with recommended technology implementation, with inputs from SHA, STB and FDAWU. (See below)

Commenting on this, WSG’s Chief Executive, Tan Choon Shian, said: "Despite the deep impact of COVID-19, the hotel industry has remained resilient, adaptive and a key part of Singapore’s economy and workforce. Technological adoption will play a huge part in the next phase of recovery, and we will carry on the strong collaboration with our tripartite partners to support the hoteliers’ manpower and digitalisation efforts so that they can emerge stronger and help our workers to continue forging meaningful careers in the industry."

The above was announced on the back of Manpower Minister Josephine Teo's visit to PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road, Singapore, on Friday. During the visit, Minister Teo also shared highlights from the 19^th edition of the Jobs Situation Report released on the same day. 

Among information on support efforts for Singapore's workforce, the report noted that in 2020, WSG assisted more than 10,000 employers who needed to fill positions or transform jobs in their organisations, a 45% increase from 2019.

At the same time, it highlighted recruitment strategies that worked out well for employers, including:

• Career Conversion Programmes, which help employers access a wider talent pool and defray the costs of hiring and reskilling a mid-career new hire into the company.
• The SGUnited Traineeships and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathway Programme, which gives employers and jobseekers the opportunity to assess their fit with the new job role or sector. At the same time, it allows job seekers to build up their skils and experience "amid a slack labour market".
• The Capability Transfer Programme, which helps companies to build deep capabilities within their local workforce by speeding up the transfer of cutting-edge global capabilities into Singapore.
• The Career Trial programme, Career Trial, which allows employers to provide jobseekers with short-term trial to assess their fit with the job requirements and company culture.

Full report here. 

https://www.facebook.com/Josephine.LM.Teo/posts/270320944463956

List of whitelisted jobs

Note:

1) To be eligible for funding, hotels have to choose from the whitelisted job roles below to reskill staff into, and fulfil more than 50% (3 out of 5 points) of the Main Job Scope after JR
2) Job roles before JR, possible technology and additional skills/competencies only serve as reference

Lead image / FDAWU's website

Tables / WSG