Two new skills frameworks were launched on Friday (Aug 4). Aimed to help jobseekers in the retail and food service sectors, the schemes revealed the latest trends and job opportunities in each sector, career opportunities, as well as the skills required for various job roles.
In a bid to boost efficiency while solving the manpower shortage, the new guides will navigate firms to create new pathways with the use of technology, Today Online reports.
Indian restaurant chain Muthu’s Curry is one among other food-and-beverage businesses that have relied on new technology to improve productivity and reinvent processes amidst talent crunch that hit Singapore in the last few years. Using smartwatches and electronic tablets, customer’s orders will go straight to the waiter’s wrists and enable them to pick up the requests faster and more efficient.
In her speech during the inaugural Adapt & Grow Food Services & Retail Day in Paya Lebar on Friday (Aug 4), Second Manpower Minister Josephine Teo encouraged more business players to follow the lead of companies that have successfully overcome manpower hurdles by increasing technology use.
Make up more than 3 percent of Singapore’s economy and employ 11 percent of the country’s workforce, Mrs Teo said that the food services and retail industries will shine for years to come. Technology is proven to be a boon for older workers, who make up more than half of the workers in the sector. Modern tools help make once-strenuous tasks less taxing, more productive, and safer work environments.
Along with the trends and job opportunities, the new skills frameworks also unveiled training programmes for workers that will equip them with necessary skills to take on various roles in the sector industry.
The food service framework is set to cover 52 roles across seven tracks, including pastry and baking, and culinary arts. Meanwhile, the retail framework will span 24 key jobs across five tracks, such as retail operations and merchandising.
In the first half of 2017, more than 400 firms in the two sectors have joined aboard on projects under the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme, which aims to help companies transform and grow. Since 2015, more than 1,100 companies in these sectors have jumped on the bandwagon.
Stating that the “momentum is there”, Mrs Teo urged firms that have not signed up to “start talking to one of the agencies”.
The two-day Food Services & Retail Day at the Lifelong Learning Institute, which seeks to draw about 500 jobseekers, will run until Saturday.
The event includes a career fair with nearly 1,200 openings — including store manager and assistant chef positions — from 34 employers, such as restaurant chain Fish & Co and retailers Soo Kee Group and Metro.
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