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The top three sectors that have used Professional Conversion Programmes

Minister of Parliament, Melvin Yong Yik Chye, asked Minister for Manpower, Josephine Teo, on the top three sectors that have successfully used the Professional Conversion Programme (PCPs) to recruit mid-career job seekers; and the success factors.

In a written response, Minister Teo has stated that the top three sectors were early childhood care and education, general manufacturing, and marine; accounting for about one in three placements last year. Additionally, about 3,800 individuals were placed through PCPs in 2017.

Under the Adapt and Grow initiative, the PCPs provide training and salary support to companies to hire and train individuals who are switching into new jobs or sectors.  Workforce Singapore (WSG) currently offers over 100 PCPs in about 30 sectors.

Minister Teo clarified on the success factors: "The success of PCPs depends chiefly on the participation of progressive employers who adopt a 'plug-train-play' mindset.

"The employers on our PCPs are prepared to hire and train Singaporean workers who may not have the full set of skills and experience preferred for the job, but have the potential to do the job with some effort in training."

In addition, about 500 of the placements in 2017 came from PCPs where employers partnered WSG to retrain existing staff whose jobs were being phased out, and redeploy them into new job roles within the same company. As such, redeployment PCPs are a new area of focus.

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