The annual job growth in Singapore is likely to stabilise in the range of 25,000 to 40,000 positions created in the next three to five years, says Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say on February 8, Channel News Asia reports.

Speaking on the launch of career fair for the aviation industry in Singapore, Lim said it is very unlikely that Singapore will return to the days of 100,000 to 120,000 jobs being created annually. Most importantly, it is expected that the quality of jobs will continue to improve for the better.

The Ministry is also working towards removing the problem of missed matches, by helping jobseekers find jobs available in the market and meeting mismatches between jobseeker’s skills and their jobs.

According to recent statistics unveiled by the MOM, more than 15,000 job seekers placed by government agencies last year faced missed matches, up from 14,000 the year before. Also the number of jobseekers who faced mismatches between their skills and existing employment increased from 3,000 in 2015 to 4,000 in 2016.

Mr Lim outlined three main priorities for MOM this year. They are:

• Professional conversion programmes to help workers transit into new jobs and careers
• Helping Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) gain greater access to Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs)
• Building a more inclusive workforce, especially for rank-and-file workers

See: Singapore’s Online Hiring Sentiment to Remain Restrained In 2017

Increase in unemployment continues to a growing concern among jobseekers, with this being attributed to lower growth in jobs due to restructuring of the economy and rapidly ageing workforce.

The PCP has facilitated conversion primarily for entry-level professionals in the past and the MOM is now working with the tripartite partners to strengthen the programme so that workers not just at the entry-level but also the mid-level could be converted to take on new jobs, the Minister was quoted by Yahoo! News Singapore.

Singapore has a programme to support salaries of mid-level employees called Career Support programme, but employers said they had concerns that the qualifying salaries were higher than what they could afford. Also they would want the duration of government wage subsidy to be increased from one year currently.

Lim noted the efforts made by Workforce Singapore and the Employment and Employability Institute towards successfully matching about 20,000 people to jobs in 2016.

Also read: SkillsFuture Plans to Reach Out to More Singaporeans This Year