SINGAPORE: Aviation stakeholders aim to hire another 4,000 workers from September to the end of the year, bringing the aviation industry to about 90 per cent of its pre-COVID workforce, said Transport Minister S Iswaran on Monday (Oct 3).
Speaking in Parliament on the progress of air travel recovery, he noted that these aviation stakeholders have already been building up the workforce and training new hires since early this year.
And the first half of 2022 saw the air transport sector recover to about 80 per cent of pre-COVID levels, he said.
Addressing queries on whether recruitment could be sped up, Mr Iswaran highlighted that this is “a very challenging time” for aviation companies.
“I think we know that there’s just a general shortage of manpower. And in particular, for aviation, especially on the air side, it’s not just about recruitment, but we got to make sure that they are trained, and they are able to deliver safely for themselves and for all other uses of the aviation services,” he said.
Mr Iswaran added that digitalisation and sustainability are key considerations for the industry and in hiring new talent.
“And for this, we will need specific skill sets. So we either have to retrain those who are already in the industry, and that is happening as we speak, but at the same time, we also may need specific types of talent to come onboard to augment what we already have,” he said.
“And so this is something that both the airlines but also the airport and ground handlers are focused on.”