Graduate traineeship scheme offers ‘limited number’ of quality roles, distinct from Covid-era move: Tan See Leng
The previous SGUnited Traineeships scheme, launched during the pandemic, aimed for quantity as it was ‘during an economic crisis’
[SINGAPORE] The new government-funded Graduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) scheme provides “a limited number of quality traineeship opportunities”, unlike an earlier Covid-era scheme that aimed for quantity, said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng.
He added that limiting the number “helps to safeguard both the quality of traineeships and at the same time manage the risk of crowding out full-time positions”.
The GRIT scheme was announced in the National Day Rally with 800 initial places. In Parliament on Tuesday (Sep 23), Dr Tan said these would be split between 500 roles in the private sector and 300 in the public sector.
Dr Tan said: “We are prepared to increase traineeship places and extend the programme if economic conditions worsen, or if there is demand for more traineeship places due to good outcomes for both graduates and employers.”
The GRIT scheme and the Covid-era SGUnited Traineeships Programme (SGUT) were introduced in different economic contexts, he noted.
Launched in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, the SGUT “focused on increasing capacity to reduce graduate unemployment during an economic crisis”. Close to 90 per cent of participants secured regular employment within six months of completing it.
Dr Tan said the median starting salary for degree graduates who went through SGUT was about S$3,400 – slightly below the S$3,700 median cited in the Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey 2020. However, these figures are not directly comparable as the demographics of both groups differ, he added.
In contrast, GRIT has a limited number of quality opportunities “to provide reassurance to graduates”, the minister said.
He acknowledged that while graduate employment rates have improved this year, fresh graduates may feel anxious due to competition and economic worries.
Addressing a supplementary question about how GRIT differs from internships, especially those also supported by existing government programmes, Dr Tan said that programmes such as GRIT are created to be “very precise, very differentiated towards a particular need”, while “other programmes run contemporaneously”.
“(GRIT) is meant to support fresh graduates amid the current economic uncertainty,” he reiterated.
Dr Tan was responding to a total of 19 questions about graduate employment and GRIT, from Members of Parliament from both sides of the aisle.
These included questions on how GRIT can support participants to get full-time jobs, and how the quality of places will be monitored.
Designed to achieve full-time employment
On supporting full-time employment, Dr Tan said GRIT will ensure high-quality traineeships that “improve the employability of graduates”, with leading companies chosen as host organisations.
These companies are from growth sectors; “have a good track record” of hiring and training locals; and are committed to offer a good mix of roles, he added.
As for monitoring of quality, host companies will need to submit a traineeship development plan with learning outcomes that Workforce Singapore (WSG) will regularly review. The agency will also conduct check-ins with trainees.
WSG will “strongly encourage host organisations to offer full-time employment where possible”, said Dr Tan. To support them to do so even before the traineeships end, the government will keep providing allowance subsidies for trainees who are converted after at least three months of their traineeship.
The government will also track how many trainees find employment after the GRIT programme, and whether it is with their host organisation, Dr Tan added.
GRIT is capped at six months to encourage employers to consider trainees for full-time roles after that, he added.
The allowance is also capped at S$2,400 – about half the median starting salary of fresh graduates from autonomous universities and similar to the SGUT quantum – to ensure trainees prioritise full-time roles.
As for concerns that GRIT may displace existing employees such as mid-career workers, Dr Tan said that host organisations were selected for their active role in workforce development, including programmes that support mid-career workers.
WSG will also check host companies’ recent retrenchment activities to ensure the traineeship roles are not similar to those of affected workers.
In any case, the traineeship allowance is lower than what firms receive for mature individuals under the Mid-Career Pathways Programme, noted Dr Tan.
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