EMBARGOED TILL AFTER 20 JULY 2016, 12PM
MEDIA RELEASE
ANNUAL WDA SURVEY REVEALS THAT EMPLOYERS AND INDIVIDUALS CONTINUE TO BENEFIT FROM WSQ TRAINING
Singapore, 20 July 2016 – Employers and individuals continue to find Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) courses relevant, with skills application indicators consistently high for both employers and individuals, according to findings from the annual Outcomes Evaluation Survey conducted by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA).
Results for Companies
2. Overall, the findings reflected that the majority of the companies found WSQ training useful and relevant, with more than 97% of companies indicating that they would continue to send their employees for WSQ training. This was an increase from the results in the previous year. It was also encouraging that more than 91% of the companies reported that WSQ training had a positive impact on their employees’ skills application and helped them work more efficiently and effectively (refer to Annex A, Table 1 for details). These results remained high and comparable with results in 2013 and 2014. However, fewer companies found that WSQ training had a positive impact on the overall business performance compared to last year. This is likely due to weak economic conditions (refer to Annex A, Table 2 for details).
Results for Trainees
3. The survey results indicate that a significant majority of trainees continue to find WSQ training useful, with 88.2% of trainees surveyed indicating that they would continue to take up other WSQ training. The survey also found that skills application for WSQ trainees remained high, where 91.3% of the trainees indicated that they were able to apply the skills learnt through WSQ training, and continued to perform more efficiently and effectively at work (refer to Annex A, Table 3 for details). However, fewer trainees reported positive outcomes of career advancement or promotion due to WSQ training. Again, this is likely to be related to weaker economic conditions which adversely affected the prospects for career advancement and promotion (refer to Annex A, Table 4 for details).
4. WDA’s Chief Executive, Mr Ng Cher Pong, said: “WDA is committed to intensifying our efforts to help our local workforce adapt to the changing workforce needs and to grow in their job roles. Under SkillsFuture, we have gone beyond WSQ training to broaden the range of support available to individuals in their skills deepening and mastery journey throughout their careers. We will continue to work closely with employers to build up their human resource capabilities and strengthen their Singaporean core for sustainable business growth.”
5. The 2015 survey was conducted from September 2015 to January 2016, with 1,566 companies and some 6,100 WSQ trainees. 25 WSQ frameworks were covered in the survey (refer to Annex A, Table 5 for the full list of WSQ frameworks).
For more information on OES and detailed survey results for 2015, please refer to Annex A.
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