5000 more places for service course | Jorbb.com

AN EXTRA 5,000 places in training courses for jobs in the sales and services sector will open up this year.

These courses will prepare trainees for jobs such as receptionists, cashiers and store managers.

Run by the Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (SIRS), the courses are for two groups of people - those sponsored by their companies to upgrade their skills, and job seekers hoping to raise their chances of finding employment.

SIRS, which trained 10,500 people last year, can handle 15,000 at capacity. Its plan this year is to offer 5,000 more places beyond its capacity.

To enable this, it will hire more trainers, look for training space outside its premises in the Toa Payoh Hub, or even run classes at the premises of its clients.

SIRS director Lee Tong Nge said the institute was expecting a surge in applicants in the next three months, and it wanted to be prepared for the influx.

Already, companies are sending their people for training in these slack times. Over 20 firms approached SIRS asking for classes for their employees last September, up 30 per cent from the same month the year before.

The Workforce Development Agency subsidises the fees for SIRS courses by up to 90 per cent.

Acting Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong, who toured SIRS yesterday, is not unduly worried about having a surplus of trained people in a slowing economy because 'there are still opportunities in the retail sector'.

About 4,000 jobs in sales and services will be available when shopping malls such as Orchard ION and 313@Somerset open in the next two years, he noted.

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