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THE building industry needs to attract talent and groom the workers it already has to stay fit for the long term, urged Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education Grace Fu.
Ms Fu told a scholarship award ceremony yesterday that the sector will need people with new capabilities as it undergoes fundamental changes.
She pointed to the growing importance of building and maintaining an 'energy-efficient and environmentally friendly built environment'.
Ms Fu said Singapore would need a 'green collar workforce' of 18,000 to 20,000 specialists to design, build and maintain green buildings.
Construction industry bosses agreed, telling The Straits Times yesterday that talent was needed in all departments.
Mr Lye Kuan Loy, president and chief executive officer of CPG Corporation, said that the talent shortage is 'the main challenge industry players face, especially at the middle level, where people have more years of experience and projects become more complex'.
CPG is sponsoring four university students this year in the Building Construction Authority (BCA)-Industry Built Environment scholarships.
It also sends its own staff on courses and hires interns from institutions such as China's Tsinghua University and Thailand's Chulalongkorn University.
'There will never be enough talent; if we have the right people we can do much more,' Mr Lye said.
Dr S. Nasim, managing director of engineering consultancy Meinhardt International, which sponsored one student this year, said the talent shortage was because 'the rewards and recognition in the construction industry are not necessarily compatible with the degree of responsibility'.
'There is a bigger shortage in mechanical and electrical engineering; people think there are more opportunities for civil engineers than in building services.'
But he
remains optimistic: 'There are more, and brighter, students going into
engineering lately. As long as the industry rewards and recognises people
well, there will be capable people.'
WHERE THE SHORTAGE IS
'There is a bigger shortage in mechanical and electrical engineering; people think there are more opportunities for civil engineers than in building services.'
Dr S. Nasim, managing director of engineering consultancy Meinhardt International
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