MAS, IBF roll out measures to boost jobs in finance

The regulator will cover up to $1,000 of stipend under their internship programme.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF) has announced a new series of measures for the development of Singaporean workers in the financial sector.

Along with these, MAS and IBF co-launched a series of webinars and events which serves as a forum to discuss key manpower issues in the financial services sector.

At the first “Growing Timber” webinar, attended by 800 people that include finance sector leaders and professionals, the regulator announced new measures to support job readiness for fresh graduates as well as job retention for workers in the sector.

For fresh graduates, MAS has outlined plans to launch the Work-Study Support Programme (WSSP) to develop job-ready graduates as the long-term strategy to build Singaporean talent pipeline for the financial services sector.

The programme will fund 80% of the internship stipend, capped at $1,000 per month, for Singaporean undergraduates who serve their internships at financial institutions as part of the SkillsFuture Work-Study Degree Programme (WSDeg).

MAS will also extend the Training Allowance Grant (TAG) for company-sponsored trainees by six months from 31 December 2020 to 30 June 2021. The regulator hopes that this will keep up the training momentum of in-demand skills such as technology and in new growth areas such as green finance.

Meanwhile, IBF is extending its 5% additional course fee credit by 6 months from 31 December 2020 to 30 June 2021.

Since introducing these employee retainment measures on 8 April, MAS and IBF said that there has been a 65% YoY increase in training participants.

These measures were also announced in the first “Growing Timber” webinar titled “Gearing up for New and Evolving Jobs in Financial Services”, which focused on job opportunities, job readiness, and job retention in the sector.

The session featured a fireside chat with Ravi Menon, managing director of MAS and chairman of IBF, as well as a panel discussion with Menon and the CEOs of DBS Group, Prudential Singapore, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore, and IBF.