Jobseekers seeking to work in the area near their homes will have access to more opportunities with the new community employment programme in the North East District.

The programme not only aims to accommodate jobseekers, but also employers by providing funding support from the Workforce Singapore (WSG) statutory board. This funding is given to help the company train new hires for the first three months of employment, Straits Times reports.

Named as the Recruit, Reskill, Retain (R³) program, the three-month pilot run was launched by WSG, NorthPart Community Development Council (CDC) and Our Tampines Hub on Wednesday (July 26) by Second Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo.

Mrs Teo said that the pilot program is part of the ministry’s efforts to carry out a more effective job-matching process.

“The idea is to have … employment facilitation that is targeted at people who prefer to look for jobs within their community because they have family commitments and do not want to work too far away.

“At the same time, we also want to help the employers within the community access a wider pool of talent,” she told reporters at the event.

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With the scheme, jobseekers can enroll in WSG’s career center at Careers Connect at Our Tampines Hub. From there, they will be invited to visit employers to learn more about the job roles and work environment. In addition, jobseekers will also be invited to attend onsite interviews.

If they are deemed suitable to fill the position, they will be hired. To ensure that they are able to meet and perform their job responsibilities, the employers will receive a full subsidy from the WSG for the first three months. This fund will be used to send the new hires for foundational skills training such as workplace literacy and numeracy. During this period of time, employers can also get subsidies of up to 90 percent to provide industry or occupational skills training for the new hires.

To ensure a smooth onboarding, WSG will also provide free career advisory services for fresh hires and their supervisors reporting for the first three months.

Up to now, there are five companies joining the pilot program, including IT company Neurones IT Asia, Giant supermarket chain and Go-Ahead Singapore operator bus.

Further, Mrs. Teo stated that the scheme aims to reach 600 jobseekers over the next few months. If the program in the North East District is deemed effective and successful, it is possible that the scheme will be open in other districts as well.

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