More than 12,000 ICT openings, 95% in PMET roles

THERE were more than 12,000 infocomm technology (ICT) openings as at early this month, of which about 95 per cent are in PMET roles, such as software, web and applications developers as well as network engineers.

Salaries for these professional, managerial, executive and technical roles ranged from S$3,750 to S$7,500. On one end of the spectrum, computer technicians can draw S$3,750 to S$6,000, and management and business consultants, between S$5,250 and S$7,500.

About one in three of these job openings are in tech-lite roles; the rest require a deeper level of technology skills, said the Ministry of Manpower in its latest jobs situation report released on Tuesday.

Since 2015, more locals have taken up jobs in this sector. Local employment has expanded by 17,000, forming 71 per cent of the sector's total employment of 190,200. This does not yet include the growth for ICT personnel in other sectors of the economy, said MOM.

While Covid-19 has disrupted the economy and labour market, it has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies, leading to the creation of new job roles and an increase in demand for ICT manpower.

The government and industry have put in place a three-pronged approach to capture growth in this sector:

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* Rolling out place-and-train programmes for new hires and reskilling of existing staff. Over the next three years, at least 5,500 job placement opportunities will be developed. Some of these opportunities are with Google, SEA Group and IBM in growth areas like digital marketing, cloud technology and product management, software development, artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber security.

To date, the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) has placed 6,600 locals in ICT jobs through its placement programmes. TeSA was announced in 2016 as a tripartite initiative to build and develop a skilled ICT workforce. It is co-led by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore.

* Providing access to company-hosted traineeships and attachments. Currently, there are about 4,900 such opportunities available under the SG United Jobs and Skills Package. These attachment opportunities are in areas such as UI/UX (user interface/user experience) development, digital marketing, network engineering, cyber security and cloud engineering.

* Nurturing a pipeline of talent in the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs). The intake for IHL courses in academic year 2020 is around 7,600.