Maritime employers and those working with students and jobseekers in the schools and career centres under Workforce Singapore (WSG) and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) had a rare chance to meet and discuss maritime employment issues. This was a half-day event which revealed insights on maritime manpower and was attended by over a hundred human resource leaders, industry experts, university career centre officers and government agencies.
Given that global trade set to be centred around Asia and that nearly all of world trade is still delivered by shipping, the need for maritime services and therefore a strong manpower core is vital for the industry. Companies have also been focusing their efforts on developing new knowledge areas such as information technology, data analytics and environmental sustainability in order to remain competitive. Employers have also given feedback that enhancing employees’ soft skills such as problem solving, cognitive and resource management skills would also help to drive optimal business performance.
While Head of Relationship Management & Public Sector at LinkedIn, Ms Elsie Ng, addressed hiring and employment trends, the demand and supply side of maritime employment and the movement of talent within the sector, industry experts and those working with students and jobseekers on the career guidance front also had a chance to network after the event to find out more about the perspective of jobseekers and hiring preferences from their counterparts.