‘Sun Ray’ hiring scheme for social service professionals launched

SINGAPORE - A centralised hiring scheme, where the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) will recruit, develop and deploy social service professionals to take on leadership positions, was officially launched today (20 Nov).

The ‘Sun Ray’ scheme will then see NCSS plan and manage the career pathways of those on the scheme. Professionals on the scheme will also be rotated across the different social service organisations and relevant government agencies, with each rotation lasting between two and five years.

Speaking at the official launch of the scheme at the Social Service Institute Training Hub today, Minister for Family and Social Development Chan Chun Sing highlighted the manpower challenges in the social service sector.

For instance, he noted that the sector often have problems retaining staff, while there is also a “larger competition” beyond the sector that makes it hard to attract talent into the social service sector.

The scheme is a small but significant step, said Mr Chan, who hopes that eventually that the social service sector will become the “sector of choice” for talent.

The scheme was first announced by Mr Chan during the budget debate earlier this year.

In his speech today, Mr Chan also addressed some reservations about the scheme, including concerns over whether it would “cannibilise” manpower from the existing social service organisations.

Instead, he noted that the scheme hopes to bring in new streams of manpower to strengthen the sector.

The scheme is divided into two career tracks: the organisational leadership track for those who want to head social service organisations, which includes positions such as executive directors or centre managers. The other professional leadership track is for those who prefer focusing on specialised areas like social work, therapy or early childhood intervention.

But NCSS noted that there will be “multiple points of entry” into these tracks which can take in individuals ranging from fresh graduates, mid-career switchers to existing professionals in the sector. Those on the scheme will also have the flexibility to switch between the two tracks as well.

At present, 13 individuals and 14 social service organisations have already joined the scheme. NCSS aims to hire and place at least 200 people on the scheme by 2019.