SINGAPORE, Sept 21 — Since April, more than 800 companies in the food sector have offered close to 6,700 openings, including job and training opportunities, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said during its weekly Jobs Situation Report today.
Of these opportunities, most are jobs, MOM said, and 44 per cent are for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs). These include roles such as food technologists, chefs, food and beverage (F&B) service managers and business development managers.
Non-PMET roles include those for supervisors and general foremen (food processing), bakers, pastry and confectionery makers and shop and store salespersons.
Salaries offered vary according to the job nature and skills required.
The range for PMET roles is around S$2,300 (RM6,954) for chefs to slightly more than S$6,000 for manufacturing managers, while that for non-PMET roles ranges from around S$1,500 for waiters to close to S$2,800 for supervisors and general foremen (food processing).
MOM added that between April and July this year, more than 1,800 individuals found jobs or took up new roles in the food sector through Workforce Singapore’s (WSG’s) programmes. Of these, 56 per cent were aged 40 and above and close to 80 were mid-career workers who entered the food sector through career conversion programmes.
MOM noted that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been mixed for the food sector.
For the food manufacturing sub-sector, manufacturers that had invested in automation prior to Covid-19, they continued to grow as they were able to continue producing food supplies and meeting business demands with minimal disruption despite circuit breaker measures.
Companies supplying hotels, restaurants and cafes, on the other hand, saw a 40 to 90 per cent decline in sales.
The food services sub-sector was harder-hit by the pandemic, with manpower shortages and low footfall due to the circuit breaker measures.
Despite these challenges, there are transferable skills from other sectors that can enhance the prospects for mid-career individuals in the food sector, said MOM.
In the food manufacturing sub-sector, transferable skills include operation management, workplace safety and health and strategy development. For food services, these skills include customer service and food product marketing.
For jobseekers with little or no prior experience in the food sector, they can consider the following options, said MOM:
- Company-hosted traineeships and attachments in roles such as flavour technologist, marketing and communications trainee, and business development trainee
- Training courses under the SGUnited Skills programme for various roles within the food manufacturing sub-sector and the food services sub-sector
Since April 2020, close to 80 jobseekers have also entered company-hosted traineeships and enrolled for training under SGUnited Skills programme, MOM added.
WSG and the National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC’s) Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) has also provided 44,200 jobseekers with career advisory or job search assistance through career matching services between January and August this year.
NTUC’s e2i also organised outreach and engagement activities to reach out to more than 3,200 jobseekers in August.
“The experience and skill sets gained will allow individuals to boost their employability for roles across the food sector,” said MOM. — TODAY
