01/09/2020
Over 13,000 Training Places For Aerospace Employees Under Enhanced Training Support Package
To mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the aerospace industry,
SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and the Singapore Economic Development
Board (EDB) have jointly announced the extension of the Enhanced
Training Support Package (ETSP) to the aerospace sector. This will help
the sector tide over the economic impact of COVID-19, encourage
companies to upskill their employees and position themselves for
subsequent recovery. Under this package, employees will benefit from
more than 13,000 highly-subsidised training places.
The support package was unveiled by Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr
Chan Chun Sing, and Minister of State for Education and Manpower, Ms Gan
Siow Huang, at a visit to Singapore Aero Engine Services Private
Limited (SAESL) this morning.
The ETSP initiative was introduced as part of the Stabilisation and
Support Package announced by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat at
Budget 2020. To date, it has been rolled out to six industry sectors,
namely Tourism; Air Transport; Retail; Food Services; Land Transport;
and Arts and Culture. Launched in February 2020, close to 84,000
training places have been taken up under the package, benefiting more
than 35,000 employees across 920 enterprises. Sectors such as Air
Transport and Tourism have seen particularly strong take-ups, with
31,000 training places and 28,000 training places filled respectively.
With the roll-out of the ETSP for the aerospace sector, SSG will provide
enhanced training support from 1 September to 31 December 2020 to help
companies in the sector upskill their employees. Employers who send
their employees for selected sector-specific training programmes will
receive:
(i) Enhanced Absentee Payroll at 90 per cent of hourly basic salary, capped at $10 per hour; and
(ii) Enhanced course fee support at up to 90 per cent of course fees, up from a baseline rate of 50 per cent.
SSG and EDB will work with appointed training partners to increase
training capacity to cater to the needs of affected employees during
this period. For a start, SSG is appointing five training providers:
National University of Singapore; NTUC LearningHub; SIA Engineering
Company; ST Engineering Aerospace; and Temasek Polytechnic to offer
about 100 courses for the sector. These courses will help employees
deepen their domain knowledge in areas of aircraft maintenance,
regulatory frameworks, and quality and safety management. Employees will
also be equipped with emerging skills such as automation and robotics,
cyber security and data analytics. Examples of the courses are:
Category of Training | Course Title |
Deep Domain Skills | WSQ Perform Aircraft General Maintenance |
Deep Domain Skills | Quality & Safety Management System in Aerospace |
Emerging Skills | Analytics in Industry 4.0 |
Emerging Skills | Robotics Operation & Adaptation (SkillsFuture Series) |
Soft Skills | WSQ Apply Innovation in the Workplace |
Mr Ong Tze-Ch’in, Chief Executive, SSG, said, “We hope that these
enhanced training support will encourage companies in the aerospace
sector to take this period to uplift the capabilities of their
workforce. Through this scheme, we hope that many workers in the
aerospace sector will be given opportunities to widen and deepen their
skills.”
Mr Chng Kai Fong, Managing Director, EDB, said, “While the impact of
COVID-19 on the global aerospace industry is severe and expected to last
for some time, the Enhanced Training Support Package will enable
aerospace companies to upskill their workforce in preparation for the
eventual recovery and growth. Over the years we have created good jobs
and built up core capabilities in the sector to serve global markets.
Aerospace remains an important industry for Singapore and EDB will
continue to partner aerospace companies to weather this period of
difficulty, while preserving jobs and capabilities.”
SSG and EDB have been working closely with stakeholders such as the
Trade Association & Chambers and unions to put together relief
measures to upskill the employees and help the sector recover. Several
aerospace companies were also engaged to understand their training
needs, including SIA Engineering Company, ST Engineering Aerospace,
SAESL and General Electric Aviation.
Mr Sazali Bin Zainal, Vice Chairman of NTUC Aerospace and Aviation
Cluster, and President of the Singapore Industrial and Services
Employees’ Union, said, “The unions lobbied hard for an enhanced
training and support package for the aerospace industry to support
workers’ training during this lull period, as part of our efforts to
save jobs. We urge companies to take full advantage of this opportunity
to deepen workers’ skills, and very importantly, work with the union to
overcome any challenges they may face during this difficult time.”
Mr Sia Kheng Yok, Chief Executive, Association of Aerospace Industries
(Singapore), said, “The pandemic has accelerated industry and technology
trends, and hence the urgency of preparing our workforce for the
future. Besides developing aerospace knowledge and skills, this also
means embracing new digital technologies that are transforming the
nature of work. The aerospace community welcomes this enhanced training
support from the government. It is an encouragement to prepare workers
for changes ahead, and to renew and reinforce our core capabilities.”
Back to Newsroom