Preparing the New Generation Workforce for the Electronics Industry

Tripartite partners announce new initiatives to train and equip young local workforce with relevant skill sets for the growing electronics industry

1 The Labour Movement is partnering the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) to roll out a series of training and job placement initiatives to prepare students and job seekers with relevant skill sets for the growing electronics industry. The slew of programmes is set to benefit 460 for the initial phase and provides a constant pool of trained workers to meet employment needs of the industry.

2 The electronics industry is growing fast as more companies set up high value manufacturing, regional headquarters and research and development facilities in Singapore. The electronics industry forms about a third of the manufacturing sector and employs over 90,000 workers. A large skilled and productive workforce is needed to support the needs of the industry. These new initiatives not only guarantee the available pool of trained workers; but also provide students and workers with useful work experience as well as training opportunities to acquire necessary skills to be competent in their work.

3 A workgroup initiated by the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries (UWEEI), comprising the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), UWEEI, the National Trades Union Congress' e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) was formed in February 2010 to look into different avenues to reach out to the young local workforce to join the electronics industry, as well as to train and equip them with relevant skill sets required by the jobs in the industry.

4 "The electronics industry continues to employ a significant number of workers and provides good jobs. However, the capabilities and skills required for these jobs are changing as the industry continues to upgrade its technology and processes to keep up with the changing demands and to remain competitive. These four programmes will better prepare new entrants, as well as other job seekers, for jobs in the electronics industry, and to realise that these jobs can provide good career options," said Madam Halimah Yacob, Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC and Executive Secretary of UWEEI.

5 Four new programmes are developed to attract existing ITE students, ITE graduates who are close to completing their national service, as well as job seekers without Nitec, to pursue a career in the electronics industry. Jointly with ITE and WDA, e2i will be reaching out to the target students, job seekers and employers to execute the programmes in year 2011 (Please see Annex for more details):

a. For existing ITE students:

i) Industrial Attachment (IA) Programme - IA will be made available for students studying Nitec in Electronics and Mechatronics courses. A pilot project involving 15 students was rolled out on 27 September 2010. These students are attached to three companies, namely Gemalto Pte Ltd, GLOBALFOUNDRIES Singapore Pte Ltd, and Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co Pte Ltd, for a period of 3 months. e2i, together with EDB and UWEEI will continue to engage companies to secure an additional 100 IA places for ITE students in 2011.

ii) New NITEC in Semiconductor Technology - To support higher value-added manufacturing activities, ITE in consultation with EDB and semiconductor companies will roll out a new Nitec in Semiconductor Technology to train students as Process Technicians and equip them with the skills and knowledge required to support process operations, process development and productivity improvement programmes. The new course will be offered at ITE College Central from January 2011 with an initial annual intake of 160 students.

b. For job seekers:

i) Electronics Apprenticeship Programme – Job seekers without Nitec can apply for the Apprenticeship Programme from December 2010 onwards. e2i will work with companies interested to provide apprenticeship places. The apprentices will be hired by the sponsoring companies, working full-time and acquire the Nitec in Electronics or Mechatronics on a "full day release" basis. 100 places will be available for the 2.5 year apprenticeship and workers can expect a minimum basic monthly salary of $800 - $1,000.

ii) Specialist Technician Programme – National Service (NS) men who are completing their NS (ORDing NSmen) and have Nitec / Higher Nitec qualifications in related engineering fields can sign up a 6-week Specialist Technician Programme. The programme comprises soft skills, current industry knowledge and additional vocational skills needed for these ORDing NSmen to be ready to take up job types such as Equipment / Maintenance / Production / Process / Test Technicians in electronics industry. It will be delivered through e2i and ITE. For year 2011, 100 places will be available for sign-up and companies who are interested can find out more from e2i.

5 Mr Heng Guan Teck, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Academic), ITE, said: "ITE is pleased to work with the Labour Movement on the various fronts to enhance the employability of our graduates and new entrants into the workforce. The collaboration is in line with ITE's mission to help school leavers and adult learners acquire skills, knowledge and values for employability and lifelong learning. The initiatives demonstrate the readiness and close partnership of the union and national agencies to support the growing manpower needs of the manufacturing sector and in particular, the electronics industry. We are also confident that these initiatives will lead to better outcomes and career opportunities for our graduates."

6 "Gemalto is honoured to be a pioneering participant in these new labour initiatives. Electronic manufacturing has evolved such that a career in this industry requires an individual to possess analytical, problem-solving as well as effective communication know-how; all critical skills that educational institutions have taught students. As a market leader, we can provide graduates and job seekers exciting career opportunities to further develop their academic foundation and experience the 'real world' of electronic manufacturing. As this sector continues to grow rapidly, we believe Singaporeans will develop, innovate and raise the country's manufacturing standards to an even higher-level," said Mr Ramon Padiernos, Plant Director, Singapore Manufacturing and Technology, Gemalto.

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About National Trades Union Congress (NTUC)

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is a national confederation of trade unions in the industrial, service and public sectors representing over 550,000 workers in Singapore. NTUC's objectives are to help Singapore stay competitive and workers remain employable for life; to enhance the social status and well-being of workers; and to build a strong, responsible and caring labour movement. NTUC's vision is to be an inclusive labour movement for all collars, all ages and all nationalities. NTUC is at the heart of the Labour Movement, which comprises 60 affiliated unions, one affiliated taxi association, 12 social enterprises and four related organisations. For more details on NTUC, please visit our website at www.ntuc.org.sg.

About e2i (Employment and Employability Institute)

NTUC's e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) is a one-stop, skills-based institute for job seekers, employers and training providers. It has a job bank of over 12,000, and assisted over 60,000 job seekers through training and finding new and better jobs in 2009. To help job seekers meet the hiring requirements of employers, e2i conducts employment coaching, career coaching, as well as employability and skills training. e2i serves all segments of workers from rank and file to professionals, managers, executives and technicians. An initiative of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), it is supported by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), the Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF), and the Singapore National Employer Federation (SNEF).

For more details on e2i, please visit www.e2i.com.sg.

About United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries (UWEEI)

On 14 July 1981, the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries (UWEEI) was formally registered with the Registrar of Trade Unions to regulate relations between members and their employers for the following purposes:

a) To promote good industrial relations between members and their employers

b) To improve the working conditions of members or to enhance their economic and social status, and

c) To achieve the raising of productivity for the benefit of members, their employers and the economy of Singapore.

About Institute of Technical Education (ITE)

The Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Singapore, was established as a post-secondary education institution in 1992 under the Ministry of Education. ITE is a principal provider of career and technical education and principal authority in developing national occupational skills certification and standards to enhance Singapore's workforce competitiveness. Under its "One ITE System, Three Colleges" Model of Education, ITE governs three Colleges, comprising ITE College Central, ITE College East and ITE College West.

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2009 annual revenues of €1.65 billion, and over 10 thousand employees operating out of 75 offices, with research and service centers in 41 countries.

Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. The freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work—anytime, anywhere—has become an integral part of what people want and expect, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure.

Gemalto delivers on the growing demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, e-government and national security. We do this by supplying to governments, wireless operators, banks and enterprises a wide range of secure personal devices, such as subscriber identification modules (SIM) in mobile phones, smart banking cards, electronic passports, and USB tokens for online identity protection. To complete the solution we also provide software, systems and services to help our customers achieve their goals.

As the use of Gemalto's software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

For more information please visit www.gemalto.com

ANNEX – Factsheet on Programmes