SINGAPORE - Job seekers can still snag good quality jobs in sectors such as air transport even though others may have been hit by the current economic slowdown, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said on Monday (July 22).

There are currently about 60,000 vacancies waiting to be filled, with about half of them for PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians), she said.

"If you look at our economy today, even though there are some sectors with weaknesses, the overall vacancies rate is quite healthy," said Mrs Teo.

"Quite a lot of these jobs are good quality jobs. How to equip our people to capture those job opportunities - that must be our focus," she added.

The minister was speaking at the Sats Inflight Catering Centre 2, where a new initiative was announced to help reskill white-collar air transport workers affected by business transformation, so that they can take up other jobs within the industry.

Acknowledging that sectors such as manufacturing and trade-related sectors are facing headwinds, Mrs Teo said help will be given in these cases.

"We must take these developments seriously and monitor them. There will be some sectors... where there's some weakening and we will try and see how best to support the companies in these sectors," she added.

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Mrs Teo also said Singapore will continue to focus on growing a diversified economy through supporting companies in various sectors, and challenged firms to fulfil their side of the bargain.

"You no longer just pick and choose and say that we only want to grow certain sectors; you actually want a more diversified landscape," she said.

"It's very much up to the company, and very much up to the industry, to take advantage of the support that is available to help them ride the next wave."