On 1st May 2014, some 1,100 union leaders, key representatives from NTUC Social Enterprises, Labour Movement communities and staff, as well as tripartite partners came together at the NTUC May Day Rally to celebrate May Day and reaffirm our commitment towards making workers Better Workers, and making jobs Better Jobs.
Before the Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong officially opened the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability. This is one of two Continuing Education and Training (CET) campuses announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the 2009 National Day Rally speech. The seven-storey, 30,000 square metres West CET campus is built by Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and operated by NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute).

Unveiling of Devan Nair mural
This campus is dedicated to the late Mr Devan Nair for his contributions to the Labour Movement and Singapore. In 1961, Mr Nair helped to found the National Trades Union Congress, and was elected the first Secretary-General of the NTUC. Throughout his term, he revolutionised and modernised the Labour Movement. Mr Nair’s undaunted spirit in championing workers had inspired many, and laid the foundation for the industrial harmony Singapore enjoys today.

What to expect at the new campus
As we emulate Mr Devan Nair’s dedication and passion to help Singaporeans achieve a better life, e2i gears up to serve more workers at the new and bigger Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability.

Make Every Worker a Better Worker
This campus will be a one-stop training hub to ‘Make Every Worker a Better Worker’. Training providers will come under one roof to upgrade workers with T-shaped skillsets. These include horizontal skills (broad-based skills that apply across all industries such as leadership and language skills) and deep skills (industry-specific skills to progress in the respective professions). e2i works with many training partners, both in this campus and outside, to develop skills needed by different industries and to equip our workers to be future-ready.

Make Every Job a Better Job
This campus will also be a focal point for the Labour Movement to ‘Make Every Job a Better Job’. Through raising productivity and job re-design, jobs will be of higher value and Easier, Safer and Smarter.
Since the Inclusive Growth Programme (IGP) was launched in August 2010, more than 1,000 productivity projects in sectors from Job Re-creation Programme (cleaning, security, and landscape), Manufacturing and Services will be supported under IGP. About 70,000 workers will benefit from average 15% wage increase when these productivity projects are fully implemented.

Match Better Worker to Better Job
More importantly, e2i will ‘Match The Better Worker to the Better Job’. Here, we will help to skill up Singaporeans and match them to good and well-paying jobs, to help them lead better lives.
Guests visited e2i’s Career Services Centre (CSC) to learn about how workers can receive integrated coaching, assessment, training advice and job search services within the campus.
The U PME Centre and U Care Centre are located in CSC to provide targeted assistance, in terms of placement, progression, privileges and protection, for PMEs (Professionals, Managers and Executives) and low-wage workers.
Matching opportunities are also created at regular job fairs where employers conduct onsite interviews. These include career fairs for PMEs, ITE job fair, WorkPro job fairs for mature workers and back-to-work women, and community job fairs bringing jobs to heartlands.
e2i also developed about 50 Place-and-Train (PnT) programmes in partnership with industry associations, unions and employers to prepare job seekers with skills to enter new industries.

Towards a vibrant e2i campus
e2i aims to be a worker-centric, one-stop centre for workers, employers and training providers.
Since the move to the new campus in August 2013 till April 2014, more than 300 events were held in Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability (more than one event a day). The campus also saw more than 40,000 visitors.
Mr Gilbert Tan, e2i’s CEO, said, “The bigger campus will enable e2i to serve more workers. For training providers, there is more space to provide purpose-built training for blended learning, vocational skills training and experiential learning. For employers, there will be expanded manpower and productivity solutions. Workers will be able to receive career coaching, skills assessment, skills upgrading, and job opportunities under one roof. e2i is committed to make every worker a better worker; make every job a better job; and match better worker to better job. We target to help 100,000 workers yearly for their employment and employability needs.”