Tripartite partners collaborate to launch first annual OPEC Month

1. 1,000 Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) from the Oil, Petrochemical, Energy & Chemical (OPEC) sectors can look forward to a suite of initiatives focused on strengthening the knowledge and skills of Singaporeans. This was announced at the launch of the inaugural OPEC Month at the Future of Energy & Chemicals Seminar 2017 held today at the Singapore Polytechnic, where Ms Low Yen Ling, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry & Ministry of Education, was Guest-of-Honour. Slated to be an annual event, the OPEC Month is a tripartite initiative led by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and hopes to bring industry practitioners to the next level of skills development, drive mindset change and raise their adaptability and resilience to build a ready workforce for the future economy.

Strengthening the Singaporean core in the phase of industry transition

2. The OPEC Month showcases the collaborative efforts and commitment between the tripartite partners and employers onboard to develop a strong Singaporean core to update and deepen competencies in the vibrant OPEC industries as new technologies emerge and the sector moves into digitalisation. In order to keep pace with the industry’s transition from automation to intelligent plants, the workforce has to be equipped with increasingly important digital skills and adopt a culture of adaptability to be ready for digital transformation.

Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) for unionised companies under OPEC Cluster

3. To help unemployed PMETs and mid-career switchers to enter OPEC industries, more than 130 unionised companies from Chemical Industries Employees’ Union (CIEU) and United Workers of Petroleum Industry (UWPI) under NTUC’s OPEC Cluster are onboard the OPEC Energy & Chemicals Manufacturing Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs). These company-based PCPs aim to help job seekers tap on funding for skills training while hiring companies enjoy wage and training subsidies.
4. Mr Gilbert Tan, Chief Executive Officer of e2i, said, “e2i has been working very closely on the ground with the OPEC partners and training providers to identify skills and knowledge gaps in the changing landscape of OPEC industries, especially with the proliferation of digital technologies where processes and systems are becoming more intelligent and seamless. As an enabler, we aim to equip industry practitioners with competencies and future skills to help them chart their career pathways, and address the needs of the industry as it transforms.”
5. Mr K. Karthikeyan, Chairman of NTUC’s OPEC Cluster said, “With the close collaboration between the tripartite partners, we can work together to raise the skills of our workforce. Workers must be ready and eager to learn new skills and upgrade themselves and not to rest on their laurels. There is an Indian proverb that says, ‘whatever we have learnt is a small speck in a wide world’.”