Good news S'porean engineers, you're in high demand

Big infrastructure projects are on the way.

Sulaiman Daud | November 07, 2017, 07:04 PM

Singapore anticipates that demand for skilled engineers and technicians will rise as "major infrastructural projects" will be started in the next few decades.

To keep up with demand, the government are putting into place measures to ensure that the sector has enough talent.

Joan Pereira, MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, asked on Nov. 7 if there were measures put in place in case of manpower shortfalls in the infrastructure sector.

Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan answered in a written reply that:

"The Government will continue to work closely with tripartite partners to build a strong pipeline of engineers and technicians to meet the sector's manpower needs."

For example, by 2020:

  • The railway sector will need to employ another 1,500 engineers and technicians.
  • The industry will need to employ another 1,000 lift technicians.

According to Khaw, the tripartite partners have put into place several measures to attract and retain talent.

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Marketing

The LTA has established a $12.5 million fund to support career fairs, internships and and study awards to attract more people to join the transport industry.

Training

More training programs at the Pre-Employment Training and the Continuing Education and Training levels, as well as structured on the job training.

For example:

  • BCA is partnering lift companies to offer scholarships / sponsorships to attract Singaporeans at the degree, diploma and ITE level to take up lift maintenance related courses and careers.
  • For the railway sector, ITE, Polytechnics, and Universities have launched seven new railway engineering courses, ranging from NITEC to Masters.
  • More rail-related Continuing Education and Training programmes, such as NTU's new Specialist Certificate in Civil Infrastructure Engineering to help environmental engineers gain civil engineering knowledge.

Mid-career switch

The sector will also receive support to try and attract people to make mid-career switches. According to Khaw:

"Agencies such as BCA and LTA have also been working with Workforce Singapore and the Employment and Employability Institute to attract mid-career switchers through Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) by equipping workers from other sectors with the relevant competencies to embark on a career in the infrastructure sector."

It's a good time to be a Singaporean Engineer.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="554"] Gif from Gfycat.[/caption]

Top image via Pixabay.