NTUC and SNEF Forms Taskforce to Give PMEs Better Protection

Professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) who are more vulnerable to economic transformation and technological disruption can look forward to better protection with the formation of a new PME Taskforce by NTUC and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).

In a joint media release issued on 27 October 2020, NTUC and SNEF said the taskforce would engage PMEs, employers and various stakeholders to identify areas of support and methods to strengthen PMEs’ employment and employability.

The taskforce will also work to ensure that PMEs have fair access to jobs in the immediate and longer-term, while concurrently balancing companies’ manpower needs.

Speaking at the NTUC Labour Research Conference 2020, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng took the opportunity to introduce the taskforce during his opening speech.

Mr Ng elaborated that the taskforce will allow NTUC to represent PMEs better and help them with skills and training to increase their employability during challenging times.

“We aim to put up these set of recommendations sometime next year, either in the May-June period or towards the end of the year, depending on what we [the taskforce] discover as we go out to do this work,” he said.

Mr Ng first mooted the idea of the PME Taskforce in August 2020.

The Need for the Taskforce

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, PMEs, especially those in their 40s to 60s, have been significantly impacted.

According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), PMEs made up half of the local retrenchment figures in the second quarter of 2020.

PMEs also saw a slower rate of re-entry into employment after retrenchment.

SNEF President Robert Yap welcomed the idea of forming a PME Taskforce, which could also serve to address employers’ immediate concerns of business survival, as well as the need to retain and build manpower and skills capabilities for economic recovery, growth and competitiveness.

Leading the Taskforce

The taskforce will be led by both NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay and SNEF Executive Director Sim Gim Guan.

It will also consist of union and industry representatives from the industrial, service and public sectors, with Mr Ng and Dr Yap taking the roles as advisors for the taskforce.

Mr Tay said: “… We need to ensure our PMEs are adequately protected, have access to good jobs and are equipped with relevant skills so they can thrive in this new normal.

“Together with SNEF, the PME Taskforce will look at how PMEs’ needs can be addressed, both in the immediate and long-term.”