From April to September this year, there were more than 2,100 jobs, attachment and training opportunities available in the country’s logistics industry under the SGUnited jobs programme, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Tuesday (27 October) in its latest jobs situation report.
The report added that a large sum of the opportunities were in non-professional roles.
Out of the 2,100 opportunities, nearly 63 percent (1,340) were for job openings, MOM stated in its report.
Of those, 36 percent (480) were for professional, manager, executive and technician (PMET) roles, whereas the remaining 64 percent (860 jobs) were for non-PMET positions like freight coordinators and material handlers.
On top of that, other opportunities that were included in the logistics sector are 510 traineeships or attachments and 290 training places.
The report also revealed that majority of the job openings were for non-PMET roles. This is because the industry needs many workers to carry out warehousing, transportation, labelling and packaging functions.
As for salaries offered in the logistics sector, it ranged between S$1,600 and S$2,400 for positions like transport clerks and freight handling workers, to between S$3,700 and S$7,250 for a managerial role.
If that’s not all, between April and September this year, a total of 710 individuals were placed in jobs, traineeships and training openings in the logistics industry. Nearly 600 of them found jobs, and among this figure, about 240 of the jobs were taken by mature workers.
Given that many industries were badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the logistics industry has witnessed a severe drop in airfreight capacity, a shortage of workers due to closure of borders, as well as reduced efficiency cause by safe distancing measures.
Singapore is an established logistics hub
On Tuesday, Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said that Singapore has well-established itself as a logistics centre amid the COVID-19 pandemic, technological advancements and geopolitical tensions.
“People are all very concerned with the potential disruptions to their global supply chains. That is why a lot of these businesses are coming through Singapore, because they understand that we have a network that is much more resilient than many other countries,” Mr Chan said while speaking at a virtual press conference on his visit to a DB Schenker warehouse.
He added, “If we continue to preserve our competitiveness in this area, we will continue to grow this sector, especially for…the sectors that rely a lot on the timeliness of their products, and these are mainly in the high-value products – biomedical products, the ICT sectors, and so forth.”
Mr Chan noted that big logistic firms in the country are planning to create 1,500 new jobs in the logistics industry in the next five years, which is based on the Economic Development Board’s existing plan of committed investments secured between 2018 and 2019.
In 2019, the logistics industry contributed to nearly S$6.8 billion, or 1.4 percent, of the gross domestic product, and employed over 86,000 individuals across 5,300 organisations.
Speaking at the same press conference as Mr Chan, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said that it’s important to have a range of available opportunities in the industry. She said this in response to a question asked on the low starting salaries of non-PMET roles.
“Of course everyone would like to get the job that offers them the best overall package, but I think a lot of job seekers are also quite forward-thinking. They don’t just want any job that comes along, they’re also looking at prospects,” said Mrs Teo.
She added, “Although the starting salaries at some levels may not be so high, but quite often the job seeker will also consider what is the prospect for further development. In logistics, given that it is still a growth area overall, I think that option…is available,” she added.
