Their monthly pay starts at $1,500 and can rise to above $3,000
By Toh Yong Chuan, The Straits Times, 7 Feb 2014
CARPENTERS are getting their own custom-built career path.
The labour movement and an industry body representing local furniture firms have drawn up a new voluntary career progression ladder for carpenters.
Their minimum monthly basic pay starts at $1,500. As they become more skilled, this can rise to $3,000 and above, with no ceiling.
The move will make salaries more attractive in the sector, said labour chief Lim Swee Say, adding: "If we get it right, the sector can offer good jobs with good pay."
The Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC), which represents furniture makers here, is backing the pay scale, saying it will draw more Singaporeans to the industry.
It is the first wage ladder that the labour movement has introduced in what it calls the "traditional skills" sector, which is at risk of disappearing as Singaporeans favour other careers.
Similar plans for plumbers and electricians are also in the pipeline. No details are available yet, but Mr Lim said that the new wage ladders for them will also be voluntary.
There are nearly 20,000 workers in the furniture trade here, but neither the National Trades Union Congress nor the industry body could say how many are carpenters. Industry players estimate that as many as four in five carpenters are foreigners, mostly from China and Malaysia.
The Manpower Ministry's official salary data released last year showed that carpenters earn a median monthly basic pay of $1,650.
Meanwhile, a $3.5 million programme was also launched yesterday to train more Singaporeans in the sector. Set up by the labour movement, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and the SFIC, it will train 180 carpenters over the next two years. The fund will cover training fees and salary subsidies for employers.
The three also want to rebrand carpenters as "creative craftsmen" to make the trade appeal to younger job seekers."People may think that the trade is old-fashioned but it is actually quite dynamic because it produces things," said project coordinator-cum-carpenter Mohamed Shamsher Khan, 31.
He earns a monthly salary of about $2,900 and is looking forward to earning more in future.
He added: "Having a career ladder is important, but what is more important is that bosses recognise the Singaporeans who perform well and push them up the career ladder."