[SINGAPORE] The labour movement has brought on 38 employers in a job-matching exercise for the over 500 workers laid off by Jetstar Asia after the low-cost carrier announced its closure last week, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) said on Wednesday (Jun 18).
The three-day exercise, which began on Tuesday and ends on Jun 19, was carried out on the airline’s premises.
The employers include Singapore Airlines (SIA) group, Airbus Singapore and its subsidiary Satair, Changi Airport Group, dnata, Sats, SIA Engineering Company, Singapore Aircargo Agent Association and members, SMRT and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.
NTUC noted that 14 of these employers were onsite at the exercise, which had a “focus” on employers from the aerospace and aviation sector because of the “strong alignment between Jetstar Asia workers’ profiles and the variety of synergistic job vacancies available in these companies”.
In total, there were 450 job roles across 1,400 job vacancies, NTUC said.
They feature a variety of key job functions in positions such as pilots, cabin crew, customer service, air hub operations, engineering, safety and quality assurance, as well as corporate roles.
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Last Friday, SIA said it will create new roles for the retrenched employees, including 100 for pilots and 200 for cabin crew members.
The job-matching exercise is organised by the NTUC Job Security Council and involved the NTUC Aerospace and Aviation cluster, NTUC’s Employment and Employability (e2i) Institute, Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers’ Union, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Jetstar Asia.
NTUC said the exercise allows affected workers to explore employment opportunities with participating employers onsite and online, receive career guidance from e2i career coaches and tap on NTUC’s affiliated unions for support.
In a Facebook post, labour chief Ng Chee Meng said he met the affected workers at Terminal 1 on Wednesday, and they shared their concerns and uncertainties.
“I completely understand the anxiety that they feel. I want to assure them that they are not alone,” said Ng, who is NTUC secretary-general.
He noted that some workers are also considering a move into other sectors, such as hospitality, and added that e2i will offer support through job matching, career coaching and upskilling guidance.
