AIA Singapore recently announced the creation of more than 500 roles as AIA Financial Associate Consultants in June 2022.Traditionally, such sales consultants or brokers are classified as Self-Employed Persons (SEPs) or own account workers. However, under the new AIA Financial Associate Scheme (FAS), these new consultants will be hired directly as employees, entitling them to full-time worker benefits.
With a large number of vacancies to fill, AIA aims to attract two groups of people. The first group consists of recent graduates and mid-career switchers, while the second group consists of stay-at-home parents and women seeking to return to the workforce.
Targeting these groups of people could be beneficial for companies like AIA, given that the total number of self-employed persons decreased to 13.6% in 2021 from 14.7% (Labour Force 2021) in the previous year, as more gained salaried employment amid the economic recovery. Moreover, poaching sales consultants from other agencies could be costly, as reported in an article by the Straits Times, and may not always be sustainable.
This might be good news for jobseekers, particularly those over 40 and stay-at-home parents seeking work. According to the same Labour Force 2021 report, it showed that while overall unemployment rates for both PMETs and non-PMETs edged down in 2021 compared to 2020, they rose for those in their 40s, from 3.2% in 2020 to 4.1% in 2021. This could suggest that this group of workers might be facing challenges in their job search.
What Is The AIA Financial Associate Scheme (FAS) About?
As an AIA Financial Consultant under the AIA Financial Associate Scheme (FAS), you will be in the direct employment of AIA Singapore. You could receive a base salary ranging between $2,700 and $8,000 per month and be entitled to full-time employee benefits such as CPF contributions, annual leave, and medical benefits. You will also receive quarterly bonuses based on your performance.
To qualify for the AIA Financial Associate Scheme, you need to be at least 21 years old and have a full certificate in GCE ‘A’ Level, International Baccalaureate Diploma, or a diploma awarded by a polytechnic in Singapore or its equivalent. Other indicated criteria include having good interpersonal skills, being committed, driven and eager to succeed and possessing leadership potential.
If selected, you will undergo job-specific training to learn the skills and knowledge to succeed in the financial services industry. You will also be given other curated training that will help to future-proof yourself.
What Schemes And Funding Are Available For Companies (Including AIA) When Hiring New Mid-Career Workers?
The government has introduced various co-funding schemes to encourage and support businesses to hire local workers. Some of these schemes, which were either enhanced or extended recently, target the mature and more vulnerable groups.
Here are three schemes that companies hiring older workers or mid-career switchers can tap into to lower their hiring costs.
#1 SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme
As announced in Budget 2022, the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme was enhanced to be made a permanent programme to provide support to mature mid-career individuals (Singaporeans and Permanent Residents) aged 40 and above.
The mature mid-career trainees will embark on an industry-relevant attachment programme lasting up to 6 months with approved host companies to gain industry-relevant experience, develop new skills and boost their employability. The trainee will be given an allowance of between $1,800 and $3,800, of which 70% will be co-funded by the government.
If the trainee is deemed suitable for the job after the training program, the hosting company may offer the trainee a permanent position. It benefits companies as it lowers their recruitment costs, especially if the company were to find the trainee to be unsuitable. This scheme is beneficial to mature workers since it helps to enhance their hiring proposition with companies.
Read Also: SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme: What Are The Benefits And Who Can Apply?
#2 Career Trial
The career trial scheme could be suitable for companies hiring individuals who have been unemployed and are looking to return to the workforce. It allows jobseekers (Singaporeans) to go through a short-term trial period (up to 3 months) so that the employer can assess the candidate’s job fit before offering formal employment.
The government will provide the funding as shown in the table below for full-time (FT) jobs paying at least $1,500/month and part-time (PT) jobs paying at least $750/month. For example, companies can save up to $7,200 for each FT worker and up to $3,600 for each PT worker’s wages over the 3 months.
This scheme can benefit companies like AIA as it gives them an incentive to hire candidates who have been unemployed for long periods, like stay-at-home parents or women looking to return to the workforce, whether on a FT or PT basis. Companies are also able to evaluate applicants beyond their qualifications and previous job experience because they can observe their work performance throughout the trial period.
For jobseekers, this scheme allows them to try out more jobs, including PT work, without having to take on a long-term commitment (ie: a 6-month or 1-year contract). Furthermore, long-term unemployed jobseekers would have an easier time finding work because companies may evaluate them differently under this scheme than regular jobseekers.
Read Also: Career Trial Programme: Finding The Right Hiring Fit Just Got Easier With This Government Subsidy
#3 Career Conversion Programmes (CCP)
The third and final scheme that companies can tap into is the career conversion programmes (CCP), which are meant for mid-career switchers to undergo skills conversion and move into a new job or sector. With this scheme, companies can target a wider pool of candidates in different sectors who have valuable experience and are seeking better prospects and opportunities for progression.
There are 3-sub schemes under the CCP.
First is the Place-and-Train. Under this scheme, the mid-career individual is first hired by the participating company before undergoing training to take on the new job role.
Second is the Attach-and-Train. Under this scheme, the mid-career individual is provided with training and work attachments prior to the job placement.
Third is Redeployment/ Job Redesign (JR) Reskilling. This scheme caters to companies that are undergoing business transformation and whose existing workers are at risk of redundancy due to job transformation. These workers will get training to take on new job roles or redesigned job roles within the same company.
In addition to the abovementioned programmes, the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) was established in August 2020 to encourage and support companies in hiring more Singaporeans and providing more job opportunities. The scheme, which was supposed to end in September 2022, will now be extended until March 2023 as part of the $1.5 billion Support Package announced on June 21, 2022.
Currently, the scheme is in Phase 4, which accounts for new local hires earning more than $1,400 from April 2022 to September 2022. The headcount of the company, must have increased from its March 2022 numbers for it to qualify.
In its final phase, the scheme is limited only to the hire of mature workers aged 40 and above who have not worked for the past six months, Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), or ex-offenders.
Companies hiring these new jobseekers will be given 40% support of the first $6,000 gross monthly wage for the first six months and 20% of the first $6,000 gross monthly wage for the subsequent six months as part of the JGI. This amounts to a savings of up to $21,000 for each hire for one year.
Again, such schemes help businesses by lowering the cost of hiring locals, which incentivises more businesses to employ mature workers and the vulnerable group. Employers, who are looking to keep their manpower costs down, may have more reason to consider this group of workers, which they might have otherwise overlooked for younger workers. From an employee perspective, mature Singaporean workers could benefit from these schemes as they will have more employment opportunities.
Read Also: Guide To Understanding The Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) For Companies Hiring Local Workers
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