SINGAPORE – Workers in the manufacturing industry will be trained in new fields such as industrial sustainability in the coming months, said Minister of State for Education Gan Siow Huang on Wednesday (Nov 24).

Eight new programmes will be launched by the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), with guidance from the Advanced Manufacturing Training Academy, she said.

This is part of SkillsFuture Singapore’s efforts to offer more training programmes to prepare the country’s workforce for the future of the manufacturing sector, Ms Gan added.

“This includes courses which aim to equip individuals with skill sets to assess their company’s carbon footprints, improve energy management with analytics, and develop a holistic action plan for business sustainability,” she said.

Ms Gan was speaking at the 10th SIMTech-SkillsFuture Singapore graduation ceremony, which featured the institute’s largest graduating cohort yet, numbering over 900.

The graduates came from 28 training courses and seven SGUnited Skills Programmes in advanced manufacturing, such as the Digital Transformation and Innovation Programme.

Ms Gan, who is also Minister of State for Manpower, said Singapore’s manufacturing sector can remain globally competitive only if it is well supported by a highly skilled workforce supplied by a talent pipeline made up of both fresh graduates and mid-career workers.

She added: “We must invest in upskilling the existing manufacturing workforce, so that they are equipped to support the sector’s transformation.”

This comes on the back of the Government’s announcement in January that the country intends to grow its manufacturing sector by 50 per cent by 2030 – a road map known as Manufacturing 2030.

SkillFuture also intends to strengthen support for enterprise-led skills training, Ms Gan added, citing the example of computer hardware company HP as an employer that actively supports skills upgrading, having sent about 60 employees to various SIMTech courses this year.

She said: “I am heartened by the efforts of employers like HP, and I urge more companies, big and small, to play an active role in upgrading the skills of our workforce.”

More on this topic

HP’s finance director Ajay Jain, who was the valedictorian of the Digital Transformation and Innovation course, said in a speech: “One of the great insights I got is that digital transformation is not just about processes and tools; it is largely about people.

“This is an important insight for us as leaders to get people on board the journey of digital transformation.”

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