SINGAPORE: A new professional conversion programme (PCP) has been launched to help mid-career professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) join the burgeoning biomedical science sector.
The 18-month PCP for Advanced Biopharmaceuticals Manufacturing Professionals and Executives is set to benefit 300 PMETs over the next year, said the Economic Development Board (EDB) and Workforce Singapore (WSG) in a joint press release on Wednesday (Aug 26).
Advertisement Advertisement [h=3]READ: Why more Singaporeans are making a mid-career switch to a new job[/h][h=3]READ: Healthcare sector to offer 7,500 jobs, 1,600 traineeships, attachments and skills training opportunities: MOH[/h]The new scheme will replace the Attach-and-Train programme for biologics manufacturing – which was launched in November 2018 and has helped 185 people enter the sector so far – and go beyond biologics manufacturing to include specialisations in pharmaceuticals manufacturing, and cell and gene therapy specialisations.
Doing so will help equip trainees with skills required to take on new, sought-after roles such as biotechnologist and production engineer, the agencies said.
Advertisement Advertisement Together with the existing PCP for medical technology engineer and assistant engineer, which was launched in October 2017, both schemes are likely to help a total of 450 people embark on new careers in the biomedical science sector over the next three years.
The government agencies, which worked with industry stakeholders as well as Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic on the new scheme, said the move was made in anticipation of the rise in manpower demand in the sector and to help local workers capture these opportunities.
Despite the pandemic-induced downturn, the biomedical science sector and its subsectors, including the biopharmaceuticals manufacturing industry, have remained “bright spots of growth and opportunities”, EDB and WSG said.
[h=3]READ: More than 6,300 opportunities available in manufacturing sector through SGUnited programme: MOM[/h][h=3]READ: Commentary: Support for mid-career jobseekers is welcomed. But expectations need to be managed[/h]This is due to a sharp increase in worldwide demand for pharmaceutical and healthcare products amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and biological products.
Data from EDB showed the biomedical manufacturing cluster grew 26.7 per cent in the first half of the year, compared with the same period a year ago.
EDB’s senior vice-president of healthcare Goh Wan Yee said the expanded scope of the new PCP will equip Singaporeans with the skills required to capture opportunities in new areas such as small molecule pharmaceuticals while augmenting the existing talent pool.
Echoing this, Ms Julia Ng, group director of the Enterprise Development Group in WSG, encouraged jobseekers to “cast their nets wider, embrace reskilling and (look) beyond the familiar to grasp hold of these opportunities”.
“Together with EDB and our industry partners, we will help them cut through the uncertainties in the new normal by spotlighting sectors with growth potential and accelerating their advancement into these jobs.”
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