SINGAPORE — Over 1,100 people have tapped on wage support scheme Career Support Programme (CSP) since it was launched in 2015, with job placements also picking up.

Giving an update in Parliament on Wednesday (Jan 10), Second Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo said job placements rose from 200 in the first three quarters of 2016, to 800 over the same period in 2017.

She was responding to a question by Workers Party Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leon Perera, who had asked — among other questions — for the number of people CSP assisted, and if there are gaps in the employability of mid-career professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) who require further training.

The CSP provides short-term wage support — of up to 50 per cent — for up to 18 months, to encourage employers to hire PMETs who have been retrenched or unemployed for a period of six months or more.

“The CSP is very targeted, it address specific issues with wages,” said Ms Teo. “The person is more or less job ready, the employer is quite keen to take him or her on, but the salary remains something that they can’t (agree) on. So the CSP comes in to address this.”

Describing the retention rate as “encouraging”, Ms Teo said that within a year of their job placements, seven out of 10 beneficiaries remained employed.

Of that, the majority stayed with the employers that CSP placed them with, while the rest found new jobs.

Answering Mr Perera’s question on the gaps in employability and need for further training, Ms Teo said there are various schemes in place targeting different needs. “We don’t use one programme exclusively,” she said.

Other schemes under the “Adapt And Grow” programme help job seekers adapt to changing job demands and grow their skills, Ms Teo pointed out.

For example, PMETs with skills mismatches can tap on the Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) to reskill and move into new occupations and sectors with good prospects and opportunities for progression, she said.

“Under those circumstances, the job seeker may be attractive to the employer, but there is a certain gap in the range of skills he has, that causes the employer to think a little bit harder,” Ms Teo explained.

“And so the PCP comes in to intervene, and encourage the employer to give the job seeker an opportunity to close that skills gap.”

The Careers Connect Centre also has a range of programmes targeting issues that job seekers have, Ms Teo added. This may include training intervention, as well as any emotional issues that job seekers are suffering from.