Almost 1,500 job opportunities in precision engineering sector; technical skills can be acquired via conversion programmes

• There have been close to 1,500 job, traineeship and attachment opportunities in the precision engineering sector since April
• About 80 per cent of the jobs offered are for PMETs
• Technical skills are not a prerequisite for precision engineering jobs, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said

SINGAPORE — There have been close to 1,500 job opportunities in the precision engineering sector since April this year, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said on Monday (Sept 14), as she sought to dispel the misconception that technical skills are a prerequisite to joining the growing industry.

More than 270 companies have offered these opportunities, which include jobs, traineeships and attachments.

Mrs Teo was speaking to the media after a visit to AEM, a company that provides intelligent system tests and handling solutions for semiconductor and electronics firms.

Noting that the bulk of these opportunities were jobs, she said: “Of these, what we found is that the majority, eight in 10, are for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs). As I mentioned to you, these are skilled types of jobs, and the roles range from product engineer, quality assurance inspector and of course, this industry is also looking for workers to fill non-PMET roles such as production operators and welders.”

On top of these available openings, 260 jobseekers have found work in the precision engineering industry mainly through Workforce Singapore’s career conversion programmes. 

Job hunters without technical skills could also consider roles in the industry, Mrs Teo said.

“Jobseekers may have the impression that if you want to go into precision engineering, you must definitely have all the technical skills that are required, and as a result, they may discount themselves, and they think they do not have the experience.” 

However, jobseekers could acquire the relevant skills through career conversion programmes, she added.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

In its latest job situation report released on Monday, the MOM provided a further breakdown of the number of job opportunities available in the precision engineering industry. 

 Out of the 1,500 that are available in the precision engineering industry:

• 750 are PMET jobs 

• 230 are non-PMET jobs

• 360 PMET and 80 non-PMET roles are for company-hosted traineeship and attachments

• 60 PMET and 20 non-PMET roles are for training opportunities

SALARY RANGE 

In its report, MOM also provided a look at the range of the salaries for major roles in the industry. 

• Industrial and production engineers can have salaries ranging from S$2,600 to S$6,000, with a median of S$3,350

• Mechanical engineers: Salary range of S$2,500 to S$4,000, with a median of S$3,580

• Mechanical engineering technicians: S$1,750 to S$2,400, with a median of S$2,050

• Manufacturing and engineering technicians: S$1,500 to S$2,350, with a median of S$1,750

A GROWING INDUSTRY

The precision engineering industry employs more than a fifth of the 473,000 workers in the manufacturing sector and contributed about S$38 billion in total output last year.

Mrs Teo noted that although other industries have been hit by Covid-19, the precision engineering industry continues to do well.

“So if you look at just the precision engineering industry in Singapore, from January to July, they managed to grow by 11.4 per cent. That’s quite interesting.” 

She also noted that among the better-performing companies were those that supplied parts for Covid-19-related products such as diagnostic kits and ventilators, as well as those that supplied components for tech appliances, which had seen a boost in demand due to more workers telecommuting.

Companies dealing with robotics were also doing well, she said. These were the ones that helped to reduce manpower needs on the shop floor so that business may continue running at normal capacity while adhering to Covid-19 safe management measures.