IMDA, Sea partner to create 500 tech job opportunities for Singaporeans

THE Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and consumer Internet firm Sea Ltd have signed a memorandum of intent for a new programme to train 500 Singaporeans at Shopee, the e-commerce arm of Sea.

All "suitable" trainees who complete the training will be employed by the business entities under Sea, which include Shopee and Garena Online, said IMDA and Sea in a joint statement on Friday. There were no further details on the hiring assessment.

Aimed at developing local tech talent, the programme will take in 400 entry-level and 100 mid-career (more than three years of working experience) job seekers. They will undergo six months of "on-the-job or instructor-led structured training" at Shopee, in areas such as product management, software engineering and user experience design.

Trainees will get a mentor or project adviser within the same department and receive an undisclosed monthly salary during the training period.

IMDA and Sea said the programme, when implemented, will be the largest TechSkills Accelerator company-led training programme by a Singapore-based company. It seeks to boost the trainees' employment and employability outcomes, as part of the broader SGUnited Jobs and Skills initiative.

Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran said: "This collaboration with Sea is timely as it will help some 500 Singaporeans acquire the requisite skills to further their career in the ICT (information and communications technology) sector, which remains a bright spot in our economy. I urge more companies to come forward and join us in this concerted effort."

Forrest Li, chairman and group CEO of Sea, said: "We are committed to empowering our local communities to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the growth of the digital economy."

Lim Teck Yong, Shopee head of regional operations and people team, added: "As we broaden and deepen our technology capabilities, we aspire to engage talent from diverse backgrounds, develop a strong pipeline of local tech talent and upskill our employees by equipping them with the relevant skills to succeed in today's digital economy."