3,000 jobs for Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) in the precision engineering sector is expected to come online by 2020, says Trade and Industry Minister, S Iswaran announcing the industry transformation map for precision engineering this week at local manufacturing firm Meiban.
The jobs planned under the roadmap include new roles in digital manufacturing such as positions for robot coordinators and industrial data scientists. The PMETs are expected to account for almost 6 in 10 jobs by 2020. The Government plans to equip workers to take on these new skilled roles under its Skills Framework for Precision Engineering launched by SkillsFuture Singapore.
The key strategy behind this plan is to shift the industry focus into new growth areas such as robotics, additive manufacturing, advanced materials, lasers and optics, and sensors. S Iswaran added that the annual growth rate of such segments is expected to be around 10 percent owing to the demand of their applications.
Precision engineering is a key pillar of Singapore’s manufacturing base, employing 94,000 workers and contributing S$8.8 billion to the economy in 2014. It formed nearly 15 percent of Singapore’s total manufacturing value the same year, according to the Economic Development Board (EDB).
As per the roadmap laid for the precision engineering sector, the economy can expect value addition to upscale growth to $14-billion by 2020, according to EBD. Iswaran told Channel News Asia, “The aim is to grow the industry’s output from the current S$32 billion to S$42 billion.”
During Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat’s Budget 2016, the Government announced plans to develop industry transformation maps for more than 20 sectors, however the industry transformation map for the precision engineering sector is the first to be rolled out for a manufacturing sector, and the third overall post the launch of the food services and retail industry transformation maps.
Melvin Yong, supervising lead of NTUC Electronics and Precision & Machinery Engineering Cluster said, “Post the launch of the industry transformation map, it is required that the tripartite partners comprising the Government, the unions and the companies work even more closely especially at the sectoral level, to build up the industry’s capabilities, create employment and manage job transitions for our workers.”
To take on the new roles and meet industry demands, it is required that the workers be equipped with value-added skillsets and knowledge. “While there are good efforts within the Industry Transformation Map to attract new entrants into the industry, more proactive and dedicated help must be provided to the existing workforce to help them stay ready, stay resilient and stay relevant to the changing precision engineering landscape,” Yong said in his Facebook post.
“While we restructure, we must also not forget about those who are unable to move into the new jobs. We have to help them transit and remain gainfully employed.”
