Electronics industry opened up 1,900 jobs since April

Bulk of posts still available, with vast majority for PMETs; only around 220 people placed in jobs and traineeships

Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing and Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo donning headsets to experience a virtual reality tour of the GlobalFoundries Singapore facility during their visit to the semiconductor firm yesterday. PHOTO: MINI
Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing and Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo donning headsets to experience a virtual reality tour of the GlobalFoundries Singapore facility during their visit to the semiconductor firm yesterday. PHOTO: MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Around 1,900 jobs were made available in the fast-growing electronics industry between April and September, with plenty still on offer, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said yesterday.

The vast majority of these posts, put up by over 130 companies, were for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), mostly in technical roles.

Monthly salaries for manufacturing engineers in the electronics cluster range from $1,800 to $3,225, with a median of $2,575, while electronics or mechanical engineers would typically get between $4,500 and $6,000.

Non-technical roles such as sales and marketing executives could fetch between $2,800 and $8,500 a month, with a median of $3,450.

In addition to the jobs, there are about 850 company-hosted traineeships and attachments as well as 150 training positions on offer in the industry.

Manpower Minister Josephine Teo told a briefing yesterday that job seekers might think that they need a relevant technical background to work in electronics and the larger manufacturing sector, but this is not necessarily the case, even if many of the positions on offer are technical roles.

"Job seekers who have technical background, but come from different sectors, may already possess many transferable skills. By acquiring additional domain knowledge, these job seekers can access opportunities in the electronics industry," she said, noting that unfamiliarity with what these jobs entail may be why applications are on the low side.

Just over 220 people, which is about fewer than 10 per cent of the total positions available, were placed in jobs and traineeships between April and last month. Close to half of those who took up new roles were workers over 40 years old.

But perhaps greater awareness of the opportunities available will help to boost application rates, said Mrs Teo, who was speaking after a visit to semiconductor firm GlobalFoundries Singapore.

She added: "It will be a great pity... if the companies are not able to fill these positions. Either they cannot grow as fast as they wish or they have to find some way of filling the positions, which in a sense, will be a loss to us, a loss to Singaporeans."

Opportunities in electronics

Over 70,000 workers specialising in fields such as semiconductor and consumer electronics are employed in the cluster.

Total employment in the electronics segment grew by 1,000 between April and June despite Singapore's worst-ever quarterly fall in employment, driven partly by the surge in demand for digital goods and services during the pandemic.

"This is partly due to the move towards digitalisation, resulting in the demand growth across the value chain," Mrs Teo said.

"As a result, firms in (the electronics segment) are looking into building capabilities, which involves hiring more people and offering more job opportunities."

She noted that non-technical job roles are also on offer, and electronics firms can also benefit from hiring individuals who bring their experience in areas such as business development and purchasing from other sectors.

Job seekers who lack relevant skills can tap Workforce Singapore's (WSG) 10 professional conversion programmes and place-and-train scheme to pick up capabilities ranging from engineering, supply chain and logistics, to technical sales, which will help them join the electronics industry.

Company-hosted traineeships and training courses such as those conducted by institutes of higher learning are also available to those looking to gain exposure to the industry.

Firms in the electronics cluster that are hiring include GlobalFoundries Singapore, Micron Semiconductor Asia Operations and Lite-On Singapore.

JOB SEARCH ASSISTANCE

The MOM's weekly report out yesterday also provided an update on its efforts to help job seekers.

It noted that 51,700 people received basic career advisory or job search assistance through services provided by WSG and NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute from January to last month.

This is a 49 per cent increase on the same period last year and due to increased outreach and higher demand from job seekers looking to make career transitions, the MOM said.

A further 28,400 people received individualised career coaching over the nine-month period, it added.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 20, 2020, with the headline Electronics industry opened up 1,900 jobs since April. Subscribe