SINGAPORE: For nine years, Hairul Firdaus supervised the installation of audio-visual equipment.
"I could not land a job. So after much contemplation, I decided to jump on the delivery platform against my preferences. But that was needed to sustain my household," he added.Professionals, managers, executives and technicians like Hairul have been badly affected by retrenchments, with latest Manpower Ministry figures reporting that this group of workers made up 45 per cent of retrenchments in the second quarter of the year.
“Disruptions from technological changes cut across almost every industry. The impact will be disproportionately larger for those in sunset industries. PMETs will have to urgently upskill to avoid redundancy in the job market. ” “The process of getting my knowledge in the IT industry requires quite a steep learning curve. But I pushed on because this is a requirement in my new job.”PMETS NEED NEW SKILLS; GOVERNMENT SUPPORT IMPORTANT
"PMETs need a lot of continuous skills upgrading. There is a big skills gap between our current PMETs and the skills required. The innovation economy is going to result in a new form of human capital that lies in creating talent and multidisciplinary capabilities," she said. “I think the most important thing is to have confidence in your own ability, and to be able to know that the skills that you have picked up, though it's in a different industry, are actually quite transferable and can bring value to your new position," said Ammar.
SingPost said it has seen a sharp increase in e-commerce deliveries since the start of the year, partly due to companies implementing work-from-home arrangements. Going forward, it is shifting focus to tap on the uptrend.While the majority are rank-and-file workers to facilitate its postal operations, 20 per cent are PMET roles, according to SingPost’s chief human resources officer, Ken Wong.
Of course our PMETs are facing a though time when there are so many fake foreign talent out there and our government seem so welcoming... Weak.
Many PMETS have successfully downskilled to become Grab drivers, Grab delivery boys etc.