There will be hundreds of jobs for Singaporeans as Sea Group, the company that runs the e-commerce site, Shopee, settles in Singapore.
Through its collaboration with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the company will recruit and train 500 Singaporeans over the next two years.
The available jobs for Singaporeans will be for 400 entry-level job seekers and 100 mid-career hires with over three years' experience.
Successful applicants will undergo training in coding and data analytics through courses and on-the-job exposure.
Sea chairman and group chief executive Forrest Li and IMDA chief executive Lew Chuen Hong sealed a memorandum of intent this month for their training initiative, which will be the biggest under IMDA's TechSkills Accelerator program.
According to Sea, all qualified trainees who finish the six-month training will be able to land technical roles across its various business entities, including Shopee and gaming arm Garena. The open positions include those for business analysts, software engineers, and user experience designers.
Those who will be trained will get a monthly salary and be assigned to a mentor within the same department.
"In terms of working with industry to create job and training opportunities, our focus has really been about how we can help Singaporeans participate in these opportunities and derive the full benefits," said Communications and Information Minister S. Iswaran.
He explained that employers in the tech field are "very willing" to work with the Singaporean government in this effort, but their main challenge is looking for Singaporeans with the requisite skills or are open to learning.
Initiatives like Sea's training can help develop the Singaporean workforce in a tech sector that is expanding, Iswaran said.
Job hunters can find more details and apply on the Sea and Shopee career websites at https://career.seagroup.com and https://careers.shopee.sg respectively.
Lim Teck Yong, Shopee's regional head of operations and people team, said what they are looking for in potential hires is the determination and willingness to learn.
Applicants can demonstrate this through past courses in the relevant technical fields, for example, or showing a keen interest in and familiarity with Shopee's operations and how they could be developed further, Lim said.
Singapore employment
Authorities announced that it will tighten Singapore employment pass requirements as unemployment soars in the country.
Employment pass holders in executive, managerial or specialized roles must have a minimum monthly salary of S$4,500 ($3,295), versus a previous threshold of S$3,900, based on a Ministry of Manpower release.
Meanwhile, employees with an “S pass,” or mid-level technical staff should bring home at least S$2,500 per month, an increase from S$2,400.
The minimum qualifying salary for an employment pass in the financial services industry will be S$5,000 due to higher pay in the field. The ministry stressed that this is the first time salary requirements have increased for a particular sector.
The Singapore government wants to empower the local workforce at a time when retrenchments are rampant and the city-state is grappling with its worst recession on record. Due to its small and aging population, the city-state is seeking a balance that will allow it to hire enough foreign talent, particularly in cybersecurity and financial technology.
