SINGAPORE – The labour movement has pledged to keep helping white-collar workers whose jobs are affected by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) said on April 25 that it has been boosting support for professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) alongside its affiliated unions in areas such as workplace fairness and protection, career progression and job placement.
PMEs now make up 45 per cent of NTUC’s membership base.
The body added that through various conversations, initiatives and union engagements, it found that PMEs are seeking more support to access employment and job-related training opportunities, as well as to safeguard against job losses.
NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng said: “PME numbers will continue to increase and form a vital part of our workforce...
“We are committed to providing them with the support they need for career protection, progression and placements.”
Mr Ng also noted that the emergence of AI in the past two years has created uncertainty around job security and in other areas.
He added that NTUC and the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union are helping union members caught up in the recent layoffs at e-commerce giant Lazada, and an enhanced financial package for affected members is expected to be announced soon.
Lazada, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding, on Jan 3 laid off an undisclosed number of its Singapore staff.
On the lessons gleaned from the Lazada layoffs, Mr Ng said the union learnt that it has to be “on the ground” with workers at all levels, whether they are rank-and-file employees or PMEs.
“While we champion workers’ interest, we do it in a fair and just manner. And when this is achieved, we will always come back to a win-win philosophy with our businesses, so that in a sustained business environment, our workers can be taken care of,” he noted.
NTUC is part of the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management, which handles around 40 per cent of cases involving PMEs.
The body has helped members resolve disputes, resulting in financial compensation. The highest settlement recorded since 2021 amounted to $68,000.
NTUC also noted that it has been supporting PMEs by stepping up workplace representation through its affiliated unions and associations, which resulted in more unions representing PMEs. NTUC has 58 affiliated unions and seven associations as at April 2024.
In 2021, a taskforce by NTUC and the Singapore National Employers Federation released nine recommendations to better support PMEs.
One called on NTUC to collaborate with tripartite partners and the Institute for Human Resource Professionals to certify 12,000 human resources professionals here by 2025 to enhance fair employment practices.
NTUC said on April 25 that around 9,000 have already been certified.
Another recommendation sought to strengthen the “Singaporean core” by differentiating foreign worker access by occupation, enhancing the Employment Pass (EP) application review process, and facilitating skills transfer to local PMEs.
NTUC said the Ministry of Manpower launched the Complementarity Assessment (Compass) framework after heeding the union’s call to level the playing field for local PMEs.
Compass is a points-based framework that evaluates the attributes of individual EP applicants and their prospective employer, in deciding to issue the pass.
Factors include an individual’s salary and qualifications, as well as the firm’s workforce diversity and support for local employment.
All new EP applications made since Sept 1, 2023, have been evaluated through Compass, and the framework will be extended to renewals from Sept 1, 2024.
In addition, companies that show commitment to strengthening local workforce development by taking part in either NTUC’s Company Training Committees or government-supported programmes can gain bonus points under the framework.
Another recent effort is the opening of a new career centre by NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) earlier in April. The centre at One Marina Boulevard aims to offer workers – especially professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) – tools, job opportunities and resources to boost their employability.
Nearly 90 per cent of those who walk into the e2i Career Centre seeking employment and employability assistance are PMETs, with about half of them earning a monthly salary of over $8,000, noted NTUC.
