At the BuildSG Lead Summit held in May 2023, National Development Minister Desmond Lee gave a speech referencing a recent study conducted by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) with consulting firm Ernst & Wong. This study revealed the importance of both bringing new and young blood into the Built Environment (BE) sector and helping them continually refresh their skill sets as the industry evolves.
To this end, five new SkillsFuture Career Transition Programmes (SCTPs) will be launched by the end of 2023. They will comprise classroom learning, which will be done mainly in the evenings, technology-enabled learning platforms, and workplace attachments.
They will span nine to 12 months, and the programmes will include:
- Digital Delivery
- Sustainable Design
- Computational Design
- Smart and Sustainable Facility Management
- Integrated Project Management Delivery
Those who join these programmes can receive funding of up to 90% of the SkillsFuture course fees and use SkillsFuture credits to pay for the remaining 10%. These programmes have been designed to align with Singapore’s Built Economy (BE) Industry Transformation Map (ITM).
For context, the Construction ITM and Real Estate (Facilities Management) ITM were launched as separate ITMs in 2017 and 2018 respectively. They were amalgamated into one Built Environment ITM in September 2022 to transform Singapore’s BE sector through the three key stages of a building’s life cycle: planning and design, construction, and operations and maintenance.
Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How, Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Communications and Information shared at the opening of the International Built Environment Week (IBEW) 2022: “In formulating the Built Environment ITM, we have engaged more than 2,500 partners from the industry firms, Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs), government agencies, unions, Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and students to gather inputs on the proposed new strategies and initiatives.
“Going forward, it is vital that firms and individuals continue to upskill themselves as we push ahead in our transformation efforts.”
Ultimately, these new programmes that reskill and upskill will also help when it comes to pushing for better salaries in the sector.
Minister Lee concluded: “We know that one of the key challenges in attracting talent to our sector is remuneration, and we have been working to address this; this is a work in progress.
“For example, we have worked with the Trade Associations and Chambers to put in place accreditation schemes to better recognise the skills and competency of Built Environment professionals.
“(Ultimately) the aim is to allow workers to be in a position to negotiate fair remuneration!”
