Speech by NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng at NTUC Company Training Committee Symposium 2023 on 21 Sep 2023

Keynote Address by NTUC Secretary-General Brother Ng Chee Meng at NTUC’s Company Training Committee Symposium 2023 on Thu 21 September 2023 at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability (Halls 1-4)


My Fellow Central Committee Members,

Vice President Sister Thana

Brother John Ng, Vice President, SNEF,

Sisters and Brothers from the Government, Employer Partners

Sisters and Brothers,


Good morning to all,

It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you all to the inaugural Company Training Committee (CTC) Symposium hosted by NTUC.

UNCERTAINTY ABOUNDS IN OUR ROAD AHEAD
It was not too long ago that we had to weather COVID-19 and go through the severe impact on our economy on the lives and the livelihoods of our people in Singapore.

Simultaneously, outward-oriented sectors such as manufacturing and wholesale trade grappled with the decline in external demand and disruptions in the global supply chain.

Yet, even as we emerge out of COVID, our path ahead is riddled with great uncertainties. The dynamics of the world is shifting. Rivalry between the great powers have intensified, exacerbating the already tense geopolitical landscape. The global economic order is changing, and the risk of a technological bifurcation is growing daily. Our supply chains are being disrupted as countries turn inwards and engage in protectionist behaviour to secure national interests. These are macro issues that Singapore has to deal with.

All of these developments have severe implications for small and open economies like Singapore, where trade is essential for our survival.


WORKERS’ COMPACT IN ACTION: UPLIFTING THE 3WS THROUGH CTCS
We have heard this quite often, but importantly, as tripartite partners of employers and unions, the key question to ask for ourselves is what can we do about macro conditions?

On the international front, can we unite as people, as a country to support the Government in crafting a wider international space for Singapore to operate in and thrive in. Certainly, employers and NTUC will do our best to support this national effort.

Within our Singapore shores, what can we do as an employer, company, business owner, NTUC, unions and union leaders?

In 2019, NTUC introduced Company Training Committees (CTCs) to ensure our workers have a place in the economic landscape and make better lives and better livelihoods given the technological changes.

At the same time, we wanted an ecosystem that is sustainable so that businesses would participate in the CTC in conjunction with NTUC’s initiatives. We wanted to create industry 4.0 together with workers 4.0 to create win-win possibilities that can create a virtuous ecosystem for businesses and NTUC to serve both business needs and achieve workers outcomes towards better wages, better welfare and better work prospects.

In the last few years, we have done the same thing to provide win-win for employers and workers, in the immediate and long term, building on the harmonious labour management relations. More importantly, laying stronger foundations in the uncertainties ahead for stronger labour management trust in Singapore and the economy in the last 60 years.

Since 2019, our CTCs have moved the needle, creating good outcomes for our workers and employer partners. As 1st September 2023, NTUC has formed 1,600 CTCs and trained over 100,000 workers across various sectors of our economy. We hope to be able to continue this momentum to reach our target of 2,500 CTCs by 2025. I hope that through this CTC Symposium today, we can redouble our efforts as employers and NTUC.

With the uncertainties of the world impending our shores and even with the certainties happening within our shores, what can we do together? Uncertainties bring anxieties but even certainties can bring discomfort.

It is certain that our population is ageing. By 2030, one in four Singaporean will be age 60 and above. Basically, less than 2.1 working adults will support retiree. It is also certain that we will not have enough babies to support our labour requirements. All these are certainties.

Importantly as we participate in this symposium and do what we can, let this macro point be seeded in our consciousness, as responsible employers and union leaders wanting to do the best for the economy of Singapore.

To support companies in their business transformation journey, NTUC have also enhanced our offerings under the integrated NTUC Training and Placement ecosystem. One of our key offerings is the Operation and Technology Roadmap. Through a series of 5 half-day workshops facilitated by NTUC’s Industry Training Officers (ITO), companies will better understand how to:

a. Gain a broader perspective to accelerate business transformation,
b. Lead their team forward through a unified strategy, and
c. Identify suitable resources to support business growth and manpower transformation.

The response to CTCs has been encouraging. So much so that the Government has set aside $100 million to support NTUC in scaling up our CTC initiative.

Leveraging this, NTUC has set up the CTC Grant with the intent of supporting companies that have formed CTCs by co-funding initiatives that will uplift productivity, redesign jobs and improve the work prospects of our workers. To be eligible for the grant, companies must be able to demonstrate what are the key worker outcomes, including wage increase, in their grant application.

The CTC Grant, administered by e2i, supports up to 70% of qualifying project cost and can be used for purchasing equipment or software, including relevant worker training, as well as consultancy services. Additionally, projects supported by the CTC Grant may qualify for a 400% Enterprise Innovation Scheme (EIS) tax deduction on the first $50,000 of qualifying expenditure.

More reasons to apply for the CTC Grant!

To-date, 71 unique companies have applied for the CTC Grant, with $10.6million committed to 88 projects that will support business and workforce transformation. Allow me to illustrate how the CTC Grant can benefit workers and businesses.

Setsco Services, a homegrown test and inspection company, formed a CTC with the National Transport Workers Union (NTWU) in 2019. Since the formation of the CTC, both Setsco Services and NTWU have been actively working to improve processes at the workplace.

In 2021, Setsco leveraged the NTUC Training Placement Ecosystem (TPE) for an Operation and Technology Roadmap (OTR) to reshape its business model and workforce with the use of technology. The OTR helped Setsco identify fatigue testing as a potential area for service expansion.

To actualise this new business direction, Setsco leveraged the CTC grant to procure a fatigue testing machine. In doing so, they not only expanded their service offerings but also paved the way for the creation of new jobs.

Recognising that this new direction would require enhanced skills, Setsco has developed a Career Development Plan to cover 36 staff that would be impacted by this expansion of services. They include technical officers, maintenance staff, technicians, and engineers.

Apart from training, the 36 employees can also look forward to a good wage increment which Setsco will provide in addition to its regular wage increment cycle.

Win-win outcomes and our Workers’ Compact in action!

The story of Setsco Services is but one of the eight featured stories at our CTC Symposium Gallery Walk. These stories show us how companies have harnessed CTCs to support business transformation in a manner that is fair for our workers. I hope that their stories will inspire you to form a CTC, if you haven’t yet done so.

NTUC’S TRAINING RELATED FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM EWMC
NTUC has been a champion for workers’ interest since 1961. Over the years, NTUC have worked in close partnership with our government and employer partners to create a stable economic environment that is conducive for business and provides good jobs for our workers.

In the face of our rapidly evolving social and economic landscape, NTUC has sought to refresh its compact with workers through our year-long #EveryWorkerMatters Conversations campaign where we reached out to over 40,000 workers from all walks of life to hear their concerns and aspirations.

During the engagements, one of the top areas that workers sought the most support in was upskilling for career advancement.

Like the Government, NTUC has always been supportive of continuous learning and skills upgrading. We have implemented initiatives through our Training and Placement ecosystem that are in line with the SkillsFuture movement to support workers’ upskilling, whether at work or during job transition. In fact, some of NTUC’s initiatives provides further support to the SkillsFuture movement. Initiatives such as the Union Training Assistance Programme (UTAP), which co-funds up to 50% of unfunded course fees, capped at $250 a year.

In our EWMC engagements, workers shared with us that they recognised the importance of upskilling. They believe training is a meaningful use of their time which will enable them to have better wages and work prospects.

However, in spite of the strong training ecosystem in Singapore, workers face a variety of barriers when it comes to training. The topmost being the lack of:

a. Finances to undertake self-initiated training,
b. Time to attend training,
c. Understanding on the training needed to remain relevant, and
d. Support from employers for self-initiated training.

EMPLOYERS’ AND GOVERNMENT’S SUPPORT IS CRITICAL TO SUPPORT WORKERS’ TRAINING ASPIRATIONS
Workers also want assurance that the training they attend will translate into tangible outcomes in the form of improved wages and work prospects.

In this regard, we strongly support the Government’s direction to further strengthen the training ecosystem to support acquisition of deep skills.

Rapid technological advancement has shortened business cycles, leading to shorter lifespans for innovations, ideas, companies, and job roles. This requires further agility and adaptability across all spheres of the business world. Consequently, Singaporeans will have to acquire multiple deep skill sets throughout their lives.

Workers who are in between jobs, in transition to new industries and are undergoing longer courses to acquire new and deep skills will need greater support due to higher cost and potential time away from work.

To address this, NTUC urges the Government to provide training allowance to cover living expenses and alleviate the financial burden associated with more time-intensive forms of training. This will help with facilitating mid-career workers’ plans to pivot to new areas and acquire deeper skillsets to augment new business opportunities. As our economy transits, there will be sunset industries and new industries. How can we support our working people, including PMEs, to pivot as they undergo training for up to twelve months.

We hope that these recommendations will gain traction with the employers and The Government.

The Government may also wish to consider lowering the eligibility age ¹  for the use of SkillsFuture credits, to support youths who wish to upskill themselves to and better prepare themselves in their transition from school to work, to be more employable in today’s competitive job market.

In any social compact, it takes all stakeholders to agree to the direction that we want to go. More importantly, to put our agreement into action is the critical roles that we play. Government provides the leadership, companies, employers, NTUC, unions, workers, wants to put into action from the ground up. We hope that will gel the foundation to a new level in Singapore’s history.

Employers also play a vital role in workers’ training. In this regard, can employers take more active measure to give protected time-off for training purposes beyond mandatory training. This will empower workers to take greater ownership of their career development.

We are happy to see employers pro-actively introducing progressive training practices, such as providing skills allowance that translate training into tangible outcomes for workers.

For example, SBS Transit has in place a skills allowance in which bus technical staff who are certified as Technical Specialists can receive an additional allowance. Currently, 40% of bus technical staff are certificated and receive a skills allowance of up to $60 in their monthly salaries.

One such worker is Chen Jinghan, whose certification paved the way for him to undergo additional courses to expand his repertoire of skillsets. This has allowed him to be promoted to a higher job grade in 2021.

Besides earning a higher salary due to the certification, he has also taken on new roles with higher competencies. In 2023, he was transferred to Maintenance Planning and Bus Asset to enhance his job portfolio. This job opportunity came as a result of Jinghan taking the initiative to go for training and having a supportive employer who facilitated his upskilling.

When companies foster a supportive work culture surrounding training, both employers and employees win. The company gets more productive employees, and workers have the opportunity to demonstrate higher performance, leading to improved promotion opportunities.

On NTUC’s end, we will continue to work in close partnership with our Tripartite Partners to build a strong and supportive culture that encourages training.

CONCLUSION
Let me now conclude.

Workers and companies must work together with the deep trust we have, to drive business growth and sustainability as well as ensure that workers’ needs are met.

No matter what industries you are in, NTUC will partner you for industry transformation. We will support you for good labour management relations. We will help to lead our workers transformation. In the full outcome, whether it is CTC Grant or other mechanism or tools, we are happy to work with you to strategise the way forward to enhance livelihood of our workers and business success.

I hope more companies will form CTCs and leverage the CTC Grant to kickstart your workforce and enterprise transformation.

I wish you a fruitful day learning about the available strategies and tools for enterprises and workers to thrive in the ever-changing work landscape.

Thank you.