The mission of MOM is to develop a globally competitive workforce and build a great workplace, for a cohesive society and a secure economic future for all Singaporeans. Including the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund of $80 million, a total budget of $330 million has been allocated in FY2006 to achieve MOM’s mission and desired outcomes.

A Globally Competitive Workforce

Our businesses need a workforce with the right skills to stay competitive, and this in turn will create sustainable job opportunities for Singaporeans.

Many of MOM’s FY2006 major funding initiatives will be directed at ensuring that our workers have the right skills to help our businesses grow. The initiatives will be spearheaded by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA).

Where there are gaps in skills among our local workforce, we need to leverage on foreign manpower to ensure continued economic growth. While our foreign workforce policies ensure that businesses have flexible access to skilled manpower, we prevent abuses with a robust enforcement regime.

Lifelong Employability for Economic Security

We will help the workforce upgrade their skills and strengthen their employability. We will also work with the NTUC to re-create higher value jobs to provide more employment opportunities especially for the lower skilled and older workers.

In FY2006, MOM will work closely with the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board to explore ways of enhancing the returns to CPF members’ savings and improving their old-age financial security.

Building Progressive Workplace Communities

Even as we improve the flexibility and responsiveness of our labour market, we must look after the welfare of our workers. One of MOM’s priorities in FY2006 is in ensuring that the areas that matter to the individual worker – health, safety, employment terms, and well-being at work – are well taken care of.

8. The key initiatives and programmes to help Singapore develop a Great Workforce and build a Great Place to work are highlighted below:

Creating a Globally Competitive Workforce and Opportunities for Singaporeans

Local Manpower Development and Supporting Vulnerable Workers

MOM will help the workforce, especially the low skilled and older workers to upgrade their skills and build up their employability.

The Workforce Development Programme, spearheaded by WDA, aims to enhance the employability and competitiveness of our workforce. In FY2006, WDA will work with agencies such as STB and SPRING to enhance services competitiveness in Singapore. WDA will be involved in building the training infrastructure, engaging industry, delivering training, boosting managerial capability, as well as shaping mindset and attitudes towards service.

The Workforce Development Programme also receives funding from two other sources, i.e. the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund and the Skills Development Fund.

Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund (LLEF)

$80 million has been set aside under the LLEF to enhance the employment and employability of Singaporeans through initiatives that promote and facilitate the acquisition of skills. In FY2006, some key LLEF initiatives to help our workers include:

Skills Development Fund (SDF)

The SDF aims to enhance the employability and competitiveness of Singapore’s workforce by encouraging skills upgrading of workers. Programmes funded by the SDF include:

Talent Attraction and Overseas Singaporeans

In FY06, $10 million will go towards industry outreach and talent attraction, so that companies can get access to the skilled manpower they need. MOM will reach out to talent overseas and Singaporeans abroad.

$33 million will go towards ensuring that the foreign workers with the right skills are available to meet employers’ needs. In recognition of the increasingly faster pace of business and ever more complex skills needs of both new and existing industries, MOM will continue to improve the responsiveness and processing times of our foreign work pass framework.

Finally, MOM will continue to increase its expenditure on enforcement, from $13 million in FY2005 to $18 million in FY2006. To build a more flexible and effective workforce, MOM will continue to facilitate the entry of foreign manpower into targeted areas. However, errant employers and illegal foreign workers will reduce the number of job opportunities for Singaporeans and must be dealt with seriously. MOM will strengthen our enforcement capabilities, to better detect and punish employment offenders.

Income Security

In FY2006, MOM will work closely with CPF Board to study ways to help CPF members enhance returns on their savings, and improve their old age financial security.

Building Progressive Workplace Communities

Occupational Safety and Health

In FY06, $30 million will be spent to protect the safety and health of workers. We need to build up a culture of ownership within industry players, reduce risks at the source, and increase higher penalties for poor safety management. A key lever is the Workplace Safety and Health Act, which was passed by Parliament in January 2006. It will change the way safety and health is regulated in Singapore.

In 2006, we will help companies build up capabilities to manage safety and health, through initiatives such as developing competency standards, mandating risk assessments and greater worker training. Effort will also be placed on raising the competency and standard of third party safety professionals such as safety officers and auditors.

We will also enhance our regulatory framework. We will increase the staffing level and competency of MOM’s Occupational and Safety Inspectors. Our enforcement will be targeted, so as to identify areas of key leverage in influencing safety and health outcomes. We will achieve this through an integrated enforcement approach. Our workers will be confident that their safety and health at work is taken care of holistically.

Finally, we will reach out to industry and promote the benefits of high safety and health standards. Best practices and exemplary companies will be recognised. The new Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee will help set and raise occupational safety and health standards, as well as champion promotional activities. Our employers must believe in high standards and best practices, to protect their workers.

Ultimately, our activities will help protect the safety and health of our workers at work, and enable us to achieve the target of halving the fatality rate of workers by 2015.

Enhancing Industrial Relations and Quality of Workplaces

$14.1m will be used to strengthen labour relations and tripartite cooperation, and enhance workplace quality. The close tripartite relationship between Government, employers and unions has been integral to our economic success. MOM will build on our strong tripartite nexus by adopting tripartite initiatives to improve employment conditions and workplace relations, such as a tripartite body to promote fair employment practices.

MOM will review the Employment Act and other related legislation over the next FY2006 to see how employment terms and conditions of workers can be enhanced, while preserving our cost competitiveness and improving labour market flexibility.

We will continue to enforce basic employment conditions, including the timely payment of salaries, across all industries, to safeguard workers’ well-being. We will also actively promote good employment practices, focusing on workplace safety and health, employment conditions and practices, workplace relations, and skills development. We will pay particular attention to the needs of vulnerable and older groups. This will enable workers to be more productive and engaged in the workplace, which will in turn make companies more competitive.

In November 2005, MOM embarked on an effort to raise employment standards using a sectoral approach. This was first applied in the security sector where we combined strong promotional efforts with targeted enforcement. Our efforts will be expanded to other sectors in the next FY2006.