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389 job opportunities were open to people with disabilities on Saturday at a job fair organised by the North East CDC, Workforce Development Agency and Bizlink Centre.
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean (centre) with volunteers
and participants at the carnival and job fair organised by Bizlink at
the Sengkang Community Club. ******************************************************************************
The job fair was also open to disadvantaged Singaporeans and there were close to 500 job openings in total.
Deputy
Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who attended the fair, said it is an
"excellent example" of how community groups, companies, and the
government can work together to build a more inclusive community.
Madam Rohani Abas is one of those who found work despite her disability.
The
58-year-old had been working two jobs to support her family until about
20 years ago, when she had a fall that left her wheelchair-bound and
robbed her of the use of her left hand.
She said it was difficult to find a job that accommodated her condition.
Madam
Rohani said: "The first thing was transportation and some companies are
not accessible for us (people with disabilities),” adding that only
having the use of one hand makes it tougher.
She eventually found
administrative work with Bizlink Centre and the company also provided
transportation to help her get to work.
Bizlink Centre is a
non-profit organisation that provides work-related programmes related to
employment, training, and work therapy services for the disadvantaged
community, in particular the disabled.
Other groups of people they
help include ex-offenders, youth-at-risk, single parents, and the
elderly. For those with disabilities, Bizlink provides one-stop
employment and job assessment services.
Organisations like Bizlink
help build a more inclusive community, said Mr Teo, who is also
grassroots adviser to the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC grassroots
organisations.
Mr Teo said: "By providing people with the
opportunity to work, they are actively engaged in the community and have
the dignity of a job... Work also brings them companionship and joy,
and improves their mental and emotional well-being."
At the job fair on Saturday, eight companies were looking to hire disadvantaged and disabled people.
Bizlink
Centre’s Chief Executive Officer Alvin Lim said: "A lot of employers
right now are beginning to look at this group of people as other pools
of labour sources... I think this is due very much to two main factors
-- the first one (being) the tightening of foreign manpower. The other
factor… is that Singapore has grown as a country."
More than 7,000
people with disabilities have been successfully placed in jobs since
Bizlink Centre started 27 years ago. Its success rate looks set to
continue as Mr Lim said more jobs are being created for those with
disabilities in sectors like F&B, retail, and cleaning.
Mr Lim
also noted a "tremendous increase" in the number of positions that have
opened up to the special needs community -- about 20 per cent more this
year compared to last year.
He also pointed out that there has
been a five to ten per cent growth in recent years in the number of new
employers joining Bizlink's pool.
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