Singapore's retrenched mid-career professionals get lifeline into tech sector, startups

MID to late-career professionals who have lost their jobs are offered a lifeline into new industries and alternative careers.

Learning platform Protégé, in partnership with career discovery and development platform Glints and business social networking platform BEAM (see clarification note), has organised a networking and sharing event at the NTUC Centre in Marina Boulevard over the weekend.

There will also be a platform for budding entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to prospective investors.

Participants will discover what it is like working in the tech industry through career booths and a networking fair, and through prominent members in the trade. They include Evangeline Leong, founder and managing director of social media technology company Kobe Global Technologies; Erik Cheong, chief operating officer and co-founder of Park N Parcel, a Singapore-based startup providing last mile logistics solution; and Dalston Elijah Pung, a partner at Tri5 Ventures that invests in South-east Asian technology startups.

There was a dip in layoffs and unemployment in Singapore in the first half of this year, with pockets of layoffs resulting from disruption, reorganisation and consolidation of businesses.

The 3,500 layoffs between April and June, were mostly from the services and manufacturing sectors, and analysts projected that should retrenchments continue at this level, the total number of redundancy for the year will come in above 12,000.

Daren Tan, managing partner of asset management and private equity firm Golden Equator Capital, said: "Future U's initiative is a great example of how tech collaborations are marrying the merits of a career fair with the needs of startups, raising funds, creating visibility and opportunities for partners at all levels. Golden Equator is supportive of such tech events."

Interested parties may find out more at the event's information and sign-up page at http://future-u.peatix.com/.