OVER 200 traineeships in the maritime sector are being made available for fresh and recent graduates under the SGUnited Traineeships Programme, with similar attachment opportunities for mid-career workers, Senior Minister of State for Transport and Foreign Affairs Chee Hong Tat announced.
"While Covid-19 has hit many sectors hard, the maritime sector has remained resilient," he said in a webinar that kicked off the two-day MSC Maritime Careers Workshop, showcasing opportunities in the sector.
For the first seven months of 2020, Singapore's container throughput fell 2 per cent year on year, lower than for many other ports. "If you compare this to other sectors in the economy, in particular aviation, the maritime sector has so far been quite resilient during this pandemic," said Mr Chee.
As global supply chains are being reorganised, talent is key to enable Singapore to seize new opportunities, he said. In the coming months and years, the Ministry of Transport and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) will expand the sector's base of talent.
For a start, the MPA is working with Workforce Singapore (WSG) and maritime companies to provide over 200 traineeships for citizens and permanent residents.
The government will continue to work with the industry to create more such opportunities, said Mr Chee. This could include partnering major companies to provide training beyond their own employees, for workers from smaller firms as well.
In partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore and WSG, the MPA has also updated the Skills Framework for Sea Transport with information on specialised job roles such as cargo capacity specialists, and emerging skills such as environmental compliance, data analytics and technology integration.
Source: The Business Times