Employees Retraining Scheme

The Employees Retraining Board was set up in 1992 to provide retraining
for local employees to cope with structural changes in the economy.
Since January 1997, the ambit of the scheme has been extended to include
new arrivals. The board comprises representatives from the government,
employers, employees, training institutions and manpower planning
practitioners.

Training is delivered through a network of approved training bodies, with
funding support for approved courses from the Employees Retraining
Fund. The government injected $300 million when the fund was set up.
Its regular income comes from a levy charged on employers employing
imported workers under the labour importation schemes at the rate of
$400 per worker per month. In May 1996 and February 1997, the
government injected another $300 million and $500 million respectively
into the fund to ensure that it had adequate financial resources to expand
and revamp its programmes.

The Employees Retraining Scheme offers a wide variety of day and
evening courses mainly for employees aged 30 and over. Broadly
speaking, these courses cover training on job search skills, job specific
skills, general skills and tailor-made programmes for the disabled and the
elderly. An important feature of the scheme is that employers, as
end-users, are encouraged to participate as much as possible in the design
and delivery of the programmes. While all full-time courses are free of
charge, retrainees attending full-time courses lasting for more than one
week are eligible to receive retraining allowances.

From June 1, 1997, onwards, retrainees attending part-time and evening
courses, except those who are unemployed or are employed at a monthly
income of less than two-thirds of the overall monthly median wage of
local workers, are required to pay course fees amounting to some
20 per cent of the training costs. By the end of 1997, retraining had been
provided to 114 140 persons under the scheme.

To improve the effectiveness of the ERS in meeting the requirements of
employers and the retraining needs of the local workforce, the
government completed a comprehensive review of the ERS in December
1996 and announced the results in June 1997. The main thrust of the
proposals was that the ERS should primarily focus on providing retraining
for the unemployed with no more than lower secondary education and
aged 30 or above; it should provide retraining for the employed who need
to receive basic skills training to sustain them in employment; and its
ambit be extended to cover new arrivals. The ERB is implementing the
review's results by phases.

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