New Initiatives Unveiled to support Freelancers in the Creative Industries
Freelancers to benefit from holistic suite of reskilling opportunities
Singapore, 29 June 2016 – The Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), together with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) U Creative today unveiled a suite of new initiatives to upgrade and deepen the skills of freelancers in the Creative Industries (CI). A key initiative is the pilot run of the Attach and Train Programme (ATP), as part of WDA’s efforts to open up more exciting job opportunities for these individuals in the dynamic and competitive CI sector. This is also in line with NTUC’s U Creative programme that aims to engage creative media professionals and provide them with opportunities for growth.
2 Freelancing is a key feature of the manpower landscape in Singapore’s CI. Findings in DesignSingapore Council Masterplan 2015 revealed that companies in CI relied heavily on the use of freelancers.
3 The ATP is a structured attachment programme to upskill junior freelancers in the CI, by giving them the opportunities to develop their skills while they build up their freelance portfolio. This first of its kind programme attaches freelancers to a host company for one to six months to work on real life projects while they undergo on-the-job training (OJT) with an appointed mentor. Supporting the programme is a series of workshops to equip freelancers with essential business and industry skills, as well as workshops to educate employers on how to mentor and support their development. For a start, the programme targets to benefit 20 freelancers over the next two years. Positions available include Assistant Directors, Assistant Producers and Graphics Designers.
4 WDA has appointed AIPRO (Association of Independent Producers Singapore) as the programme manager. AIPRO will screen and match suitable candidates to a participating host company based on job fit. (Please refer to Annex A for more details on the ATP).
5 Mr Ng Cher Pong, Chief Executive of WDA, said: “Freelancers will continue to be a key resource pool to tap on for the Creative Industries. The suite of interventions introduced by WDA aim to equip them with the relevant skills, so that they are able to adapt to evolving demands and support the growth of the industry. WDA is committed to work with our tripartite partners, NTUC and the industry to strengthen the Singaporean Core in the Creative Industries with the development of a strong pool of skilled freelancers in this extremely competitive market.”
6 Mr Vivek Kumar, NTUC Director for U Creative, said: ““Freelance professionals are a critical part of the workforce in the creative and media sector. Digitisation and other changes in the creative media landscape present new challenges for our professionals to stay ahead of the curve and be globally competitive. NTUC U Creative community is pleased to scale-up our partnership with WDA to serve freelance professionals in the sector. We shall continue to work with the U Circle of Friends of the Labour Movement and other partners to provide our creative media professionals with the resources and opportunities to expand their expertise and experiences.”
7 WDA and NTUC U Creative also announced a series of industry-relevant courses in disciplines such as Animation, Design, and Film & TV developed in collaboration with industry partners. These courses are designed to be short but intensive to enable freelancers to deepen their skills and knowledge and pursue lifelong learning despite their irregular work schedule. These courses encompass a Survival Bootcamp workshop series, entrepreneurship series and masterclasses, and will run till end March 2017. (Please refer to Annex B for more details).
8 NTUC Secretary-General, Mr Chan Chun Sing, was the Guest of Honour at the Creative Freelancers Bootcamp held at *SCAPE today. Organised by WDA and NTUC, the Bootcamp aims to encourage freelancers to take charge of their self-development. Mr Chan also participated in a dialogue session with the participants.