10 July 2021

Singaporeans affected by COVID-19 pandemic can expect local support in local jobs & skills over the next two years

The five Community Development Councils (CDCs), Maybank Singapore and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), are embarking on a new initiative to bring together a roving series of job fairs and programmes named Maybank-CDC Jobs & Skills Series to the communities.

Maybank has pledged $500,000 over two years to support CDCs and e2i in their job fair efforts. The bank will also tap into its business network to link its small and medium enterprises (SMEs) clients to the CDCs to locate available job vacancies. The CDCs are close to the ground, and therefore are well positioned to play the aggregator role to galvanise support from the community, and at the same time, connect corporate partners to serve residents’ employment and employability needs during this period.

National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC) e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) serves our local workforce from all walks of life and is happy to partner Maybank to reach out to the SME partners and harvest job vacancies, and to be the preferred partner to support CDCs in the series of jobs and skills related events and programmes. This includes job fairs, and training of Maybank staff to become SkillsFuture Advice Ambassadors. In support of providing more accessible employment opportunities for job seekers, e2i has partnered Maybank to place the NTUC Job Security Council Job Stations at more Maybank branches. Job seekers are now able to self-serve at Maybank@Marine Parade and will soon be able to access more job opportunities at Maybank@HDBHub.

Announcement of Maybank-CDC Jobs & Skills Series

Maybank-CDC Jobs & Skills Series aims to empower job seekers in securing placement opportunities with potential local employers. It supports national employment and employability schemes to build greater resilience in Singapore’s workforce.

Maybank staff trained by e2i and the CDCs, will be serving the community as SkillsFuture Advice (SFA) Ambassadors. These Ambassadors will be deployed across the various job fairs under the series, and they will advise residents on the career resources available pertaining to lifelong learning, as part of CDCs’ and SkillsFuture Singapore’s efforts to foster lifelong learning in the community.

Job seekers will have access to career coaching, and e2i will match job-ready Singaporeans with Maybank’s network of SME clients. e2i career coaches will review existing skills gaps of job seekers to upskill and reskill themselves towards employability readiness.  Job-matching tools such as the NTUC Job Security Council Job Stations will enable job seekers to search for jobs near their homes, or broadcast their profiles to more employers. These efforts are aligned with e2i’s core mission of creating better employment opportunities for job seekers.

Maybank-CDC Jobs & Skills Series is part of Maybank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts to help the vulnerable workforce land job opportunities during this period.  Since 2010, the bank has been supporting the five CDCs to provide financial empowerment to over 3,500 low-income households. This includes free personal accident insurance coverage co-sponsored by Etiqa Insurance, matched savings and other initiatives, such as CashUP Family Savers @ Central Singapore, Happy Savers @ North East and Maybank Savers Programme @ North East, Maybank Star Savers @ North West, Maybank-South East Money Savvy Programme and Caregiving @ South West.

The North East CDC will kick off the first job fair under this partnership from 9 to 10 July 2021. Career Discovery @ North East will offer over 1,000 job vacancies from the logistics, transport and corporate services sectors, involving 11 employers. The fair aims to reach out to 1,200 job seekers, both on-site at Our Tampines Hub and virtually at https://event.e2i.com.sg/web/NECDC. 

• Dr John Lee, Country CEO and CEO of Maybank Singapore, “With Maybank-CDC Jobs & Skills Series, Maybank hopes to support job seekers in finding employment and also help businesses with their hiring needs. Beyond funding, the bank will also tap our customer network to bring our SME customers onboard to participate in the job fairs. This initiative is aligned with Maybank’s mission of Humanising Financial Services, and our sustainability goal to uplift communities and improve the lives of 1 million households across ASEAN by 2025.”
• Ms Low Yen Ling, Chairman of Mayors’ Committee and Mayor of South West District, “COVID-19 has accelerated the pace of disruptions and speed of changes in our economy and livelihoods. The readiness and ability to continually adjust and adapt, learn or re-learn, re-skill and up-skill is the new normal that we will be living with. Since the launch of SkillsFuture, the CDCs have steadily upped the intensity and scale of our efforts to support and equip Singaporeans in their career and learning journey. This initiative with Maybank will open opportunities for residents to work in SMEs, where valuable experience and exposure can be gained for fulfilling careers. As the CDCs continue to help residents stay relevant and employable, we hope that job seekers will take every chance to attend the career workshops or virtual events organised, and arm themselves with tools and resources to develop new skills and know-how, to secure a brighter future.”
• Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng, Mayor of Central Singapore District, “Lives and livelihoods have been affected by the pandemic. Some have lost jobs, while others suffered pay cuts. I am grateful that Maybank is generously supporting the five CDCs to enhance job opportunities. For Central Singapore CDC, our focus will be to further support residents, especially the vulnerable, with job opportunities near their homes.  This is especially helpful for those who require flexibility, such as mothers, elderly, persons with disabilities and their caregivers. The ‘Local Jobs Network @ Central Singapore’ will bring together partners like e2i to collate employment opportunities in the neighbourhood.  I hope everyone can come forward to share resources and job opportunities to help others in need.”
• Mr Desmond Choo, Mayor of North East District, “Despite the uncertainties of the market, there are windows of opportunities for our residents who are seeking employment. The labour crunch that SMEs are facing due to the tightening of the foreign worker base, avails a range of job vacancies. The CDCs play the role of a bridge between our extensive network of corporate partners and job seekers, by aggregating job vacancies and bringing them to the job fairs. The partnership with Maybank is one such example that provides our residents easier access to job vacancies at the SMEs, as Maybank taps on its connections for us to expand our outreach to consolidate employment opportunities.”
• Mr Alex Yam, Mayor of North West District, “In line with CDCs’ efforts to connect the community to useful resources on the jobs front, the CDCs are collaborating with Maybank and e2i to encourage residents to embrace lifelong learning and refresh employability skills amid the pandemic. At North West CDC, we will adopt a tiered approach to our upcoming job fairs. We will introduce a SkillsFuture Learning Journey which aims to empower residents through understanding the future economy and discovering their strengths. The Learning Journey will complement plans to make job opportunities accessible to the community, through employment booths by various corporate partners, with on-site interviews and career coaching services.”
• Mr Fahmi Aliman, Mayor of South East District, “The collaboration with Maybank is timely as the employment and employability landscape shifts as a result of COVID-19. Although the employment rate is improving, there is still a group of Singaporeans that will need a little more help in finding jobs. With this partnership, residents will be able to gain access to employment opportunities offered at a local level. CDCs will continue to be a key partner to offer help and support to the community.”
• Mr Gilbert Tan, CEO of NTUC’s e2i, “Despite the uncertainties in job security brought about by the pandemic, there are still groups of SMEs, particularly those in the growth sectors, looking for talents. The collaboration with Maybank will enable us to amplify outreach to more SME employers, match their hiring needs and bring jobs to our workers. I am heartened to have Maybank’s support, carving out their business space to avail career resources to more people, through setting up NTUC Job Security Council Job Stations in the Marine Parade and HDB Hub branches. At the same time, we’re glad to be working with the various CDCs to organise job fairs and reach out to more job seekers at the community level. Together with our partners, we aim to extend the outreach and make it even more convenient for job seekers to access e2i’s career advisory and job-matching services.”