A REVIEW OF THE MULTI-SKILLING SCHEME IN THE SINGAPORE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Abstract

Construction productivity in Singapore has always been perceived as a low productivity sector given our slow labor productivity growth. To address the issue, the government introduced the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Multi-skilling Scheme in 2012. The primary goal of the scheme is to develop competent workers who are versatile in multiple skill sets, to ensure flexibility in deployment onsite. This dissertation aims to assess the extent of adoption of multi-skilling scheme in Singapore’s Construction Industry by recognizing the current status of construction productivity in Singapore and the benefits, drivers and barriers of multi-skilling workers. Drivers and barriers of the Multi-skilling Scheme formulated under Scott’s Institutional Framework would be investigated and recommendations were proposed for improvement of the Multi-skilling Scheme. This study is conducted through a multi-phased research design comprising of survey and interviews with industry employers, workers and the government. Results from empirical findings indicate a strong influence of regulatory impetus towards adoption of the Multi-skilling Scheme where an incentive of lower foreign levy was granted. Significant drivers highlighted were government compliance with regulations, employer’s perceived importance of multiskilling workers for productivity improvement and usefulness of the Multi-skilling Scheme for upgrading worker’s skills. Barriers of the Multi-skilling Scheme were perceived insignificant towards hindering firm’s adoption, especially with firms heavily incentivized and driven by government conformance. Limitations of this study include poor survey response gathered from multiskilled workers to give an accurate generalization of research findings, and inadequately crafted survey questionnaires to provide a comprehensive understanding of multi-skilling adoption in today’s industry. Differences in perception of multi-skilling by main contractor and subcontractor suggest future research in examination of multi-skilling from the two different groups’ perspectives. Other future research recommendations such as implementation of multi-skilled resource planning such as Multi-skilling Optimization Model for Allocation (MOMA) and heuristic algorithm for multi-skilled resource scheduling in Singapore’s Multi-skilling Scheme was also addressed in the paper.