How S’pore’s Industry Transformation Maps are uplifting retail & security workers

22/11/2022

Industry Transformations Maps (ITM) are here to provide better careers for our entrepreneurial retailers and hardworking security officers.

And by “better”, we mean flexible training, future-ready upskilling and more take-home pay.

Keeping your security guard officer financially and physically secure

Source: Sun Xueling Facebook

The Security ITM, launched in 2018, has made good progress thanks to the close relationship between Ministry of Home Affairs and tripartite partners, noted Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling at the Security Industry Conference 2022 on Nov 16.

“The monthly gross wage of an entry-level security officer is expected to increase by more than 50 per cent from 2022 to 2028,” she added.

This comes from the Government accepting Security Tripartite Cluster’s recommendations for a six-year schedule of sustained baseline Progressive Wage Model wage increases for the security industry in November last year.

More than 43,000 security officers will benefit.

“Further, the Private Security Industry Act (PSIA) was amended to introduce new offences addressing common types of harassment and abuse faced by security officers in the course of their duties,” noted the MOS about the Government’s concrete efforts to help security uncles and aunties this May.

“We hope that this sends a clear, deterrent signal against the harassment and abuse of security officers.”

So now, while we know that certain types of behaviour are unacceptable, the Government’s toughening up PSIA makes it clear that there are more legal consequences now.    

“The security industry is a critical sector, and a key partner of the Ministry of Home Affairs in keeping Singapore safe and secure,” said SMS Sun.

“Security officers play an essential role as they are at the forefront of the safety and security of the premises that they are deployed in,” she added.

Career Conversion Programme (CCP) for Retail Professionals

Source: Ministry of Manpower Facebook

For the retail industry, the refreshed Retail ITM 2025 will raise the quality of jobs for the retail workforce.

“The retail workforce is a key party that we need to engage, enable and empower, in order for our retail industry and companies to succeed,” said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad when opening the 29th Annual Singapore Retail Industry Conference and Exhibition on Nov 16.

“We want to see you succeed.”

So the PAP Government is helping retailers redesign and enhance job roles, and equipping retail employees with new and emerging skills.

There’s the Career Conversion Programme (CCP) for Retail Professional which helps employers train new mid-career hires.

It reskills existing employees for redesigned job roles like e-commerce, branding and data and artificial intelligence.

“Job redesign, enabled by technology, injects greater value into traditional job roles, both for the worker and for the business,” noted SMS Zaqy.

In fact, this particular CCP is newly-revamped to help employers train retail employees flexibly.

“If there are competencies that are not available inhouse, employers can choose to complement it with external training,” he said.

Roles for training could include customer experience managers, omni-channel managers and customer intelligence analysts.

“To stay relevant, retailers increasingly need to engage customers with unique in-store experiences, complemented by user-friendly online interactions,” SMS Zaqy noted.

So these particular roles are necessary.

And they’re made even more possible since the Government’s supporting that recommended 5.5 to 7.5 per cent pay rise with generous co-funding (50 to 75 per cent) for low-wage employees under the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme.

This will help companies and workers not just survive these upcoming times — they’ll be ready to thrive afterwards.

Charted territory

A final note: There are actually many different ITMs and they cover 23 different industries such as healthcare, education, financial services and food services.

There’re part of the Government’s S$4.5 billion Industry Transformation Programme and definitely worth looking at.

That’s because they’ll affect you —the Government’s here to help everyone.

Cover photo credit: Sun Xueling and Ministry of Manpower Facebook