Written Reply by Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan to Parliamentary Question on Manpower for Infrastructure Projects

Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Transport 

a.     whether there are enough technicians and engineers to handle our infrastructure projects and their maintenance; and

b.     what measures are in place to meet manpower shortfalls in this sector.

Reply by Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan:

1.     As Singapore embarks on major infrastructural projects in the coming decades, the Government will continue to work closely with tripartite partners to build a strong pipeline of engineers and technicians to meet the sector's manpower needs.

2.     We expect the demand for technicians and engineers to grow steadily in the coming years. The railway sector, for example, employs more than 2,000 engineers and 4,000 technicians today and will need to employ another 1,500 by 2020. Another area of demand is for lift technicians as Singapore's built environment continues to transform. There are currently about 2,100 lift technicians and by 2020 we expect to employ another 1,000 more.

3.     The tripartite partners have worked together to formulate a package of measures to attract and retain talent:

i.     Industry-wide branding and promotion of engineering and technical jobs. For example, in 2015, LTA established a $12.5 million Public Transport Manpower Development Fund, to support initiatives such as career fairs, internships and study awards to uplift the image of engineering and technical careers and attract new entrants to the industry.

ii.    Building a dedicated pipeline of engineering and technical expertise. We have also been ramping up the offering of training programmes at both the Pre-Employment Training (PET) and Continuing Education and Training (CET) levels, as well as structured on-the-job training. For example, BCA is partnering lift companies to offer scholarships / sponsorships to attract Singaporeans at the degree, diploma and ITE level to take up lift maintenance related courses and careers. For the railway sector, our ITE, Polytechnics, and Universities launched seven new railway engineering courses, ranging from NITEC to Masters. The first few batches of graduates will be ready to join the industry in the next one to two years. We are also working with programme partners to launch more rail-related Continuing Education and Training programmes, such as NTU's new Specialist Certificate in Civil Infrastructure Engineering to help environmental engineers gain civil engineering knowledge.

iii.   Attracting mid-career switchers.  Agencies such as BCA and LTA have also been working with WSG and e2i to attract mid-career switchers through Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) by equipping workers from other sectors with the relevant competencies to embark on a career in the infrastructure sector.