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(Go-Ahead will be holding a carnival at their depot this coming Saturday)
Go-Ahead Singapore has hired 655 out of the targetted 700 bus captain positions. The UK-based operator reports that it has hit a new milestone and will be operating a new Loyang bus depot from the Changi Airport and Changi Village bus terminals.
“We’re now in the key stage of training and obviously enhancing the skillsets of the people and individuals we’ve employed,” said Go-Ahead Singapore’s Managing Director Nigel Wood. “Recruitment carries on; there’s a projection that we need to fulfill, but training is now key – training our engineers up to meet our quality standards that we want to bring.”
Go-Ahead Singapore has been in close consultation with the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) in an effort to understand the local bus industry and employment concerns of bus captains.
The company says that it understands the importance of building a strong Singaporean core employment base and demonstrate their willingness to design careers to attract more Singaporeans into the bus industry.
In February, Go-Ahead Singapore announced its employment terms and benefits for its bus captains. These included:
A minimum basic starting salary of S$1,865 for Singaporean and PR bus captains
- S$2,000 sign-on bonus for experienced captains;
- A one-time S$1,000 retention bonus;
- A S$430 annual allowance for health, learning, and leisure programmes;
- Up to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave for female employees;
- Two days of elder care leave per year for all employees;
- Free bus and train rides.
Modern facilities, good working environments and competitive salaries are part of the Go-Ahead package. Melvin Yong of the NTWU posted on his Facebook page that “Our union will continue to work closely with Go-Ahead, especially in ensuring that the bus captains transition smoothly and are well-adjusted at their new workplace as they prepare for service commencement in a few months’ time”.
