Trainees feel shortchanged

From The Straits Times
By Goh Chin Lian
Published 31 Jan 2010

It was a time of recession and the offer of a traineeship was too good to resist.

New graduates who had said yes to a government-subsidised traineeship programme last year told The Sunday Times they gained valuable work experience.

Some even snagged a permanent position with the company they had signed up with, months before their trainee term of up to a year had ended.

However, other trainees were unhappy with the Professional Skills Programme Traineeships (PSPT), which is run by several government agencies including the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

They felt they were being underpaid - with allowances of between $1,000 and $2,500 each, with the Government subsidising the bulk of it - for doing as much work as permanent staff who are paid 1.5 times as much or more.

It was announced last week that the agencies had stopped taking new applications from Jan 1 this year as more firms were recruiting again with the economic recovery, and the programme had become less popular.

The programme was introduced in May last year. More than 1,400 people have started their traineeships in sectors such as banking, maritime and digital media.

One trainee in his 20s, who declined to be named, felt that his employer was using the programme as a source of cheap labour, which was not tenable now that the economy has recovered.

He said he had asked his human resource department to consider offering him a permanent contract before his one-year trainee term was up.

Without even discussing performance, he said, the reply was: 'If you are the employer, will you convert trainees halfway through and pay them $2,000 or carry on with the current scheme and pay just $500?'

Another issue is a requirement in some cases that the trainee pay back all of what he earned - to the government agency and his company if the latter had topped up the subsidy - if he leaves the company before his traineeship term is up.

He must also give back the portion subsidised by the Government - possibly three-quarters of his allowance - if he leaves after one year and does not stay in the same industry in the subsequent year. Said another trainee in his 20s: 'Why do we need to pay back what we earned? After all, we did work.'

Asked about such complaints, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said yesterday that the PSPT was introduced in a recession to retain expertise in what were deemed to be future growth sectors.

Mr Gan also put the onus on the individual government agencies to ensure that companies met the objectives of the programme.

The Manpower Ministry added that the agencies ensure trainees receive structured training and obtain feedback directly from them about their stint.

The Sunday Times understands companies may not want to offer permanent contracts too early because they would lose thousands of dollars in government subsidy.

For a monthly allowance of $2,000, the subsidy could be $1,500, with the company topping up $500.

Offering better-performing trainees a permanent contract midway might also demoralise other trainees.

One possible carrot to offer trainees is a sign-on bonus if they are offered a permanent contract at the end of their term.

Labour MP Josephine Teo, however, felt that employers who delay giving good trainees a permanent position when they could afford to do so were being shortsighted.

'No talent will stay with you very long if you treat them this way. Word will get out that you are not a fair employer,' said Mrs Teo, an assistant secretary-general at the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

Fine arts logistics firm Helu- Trans (S) increased the $2,000 monthly allowance of three trainees three months into their one-year term. Based on their individual performance, they received an increment of 5 per cent to 15 per cent.

Its chief strategy officer, Mr Jason Chia, said: 'You pay interns, you get interns. You pay professionals, you get professionals.'

As in any apprenticeship scheme, trainees should be patient and be prepared for fairly low pay, said the chief executive officer of the NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute, Mr Ang Hin Kee.

'But usually, the payoff is good in the long term,' he said.

The success of the programme hinges on selecting trainees who are passionate about the sector, he added.

The Government could also help those who are not given permanent contracts at the end of their term to find jobs in their sector, said Mr David Ang, executive director of the Singapore Human Resources Institute.

Mrs Teo suggested linking up the trainees with professional bodies in these growth sectors, so that they are kept informed of job vacancies.

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