SMC boosts manpower training programs as it builds airport, railways

Young engineers in training for SMC’s MRT 7 project

MANILA  -Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is ramping up the training of workers and potential new hires to support investments in ongoing airport and railway projects.

The food, beverage, energy and infrastructure giant recently announced a partnership with the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (Tesda) to train workers for new projects such the P740- billion New Manila International Airport in Bulacan province.

The agreement expands the tie-up with Tesda to include more provinces “to maximize job and livelihood creation”, a statement showed.

“This is a great opportunity for many of our countrymen. The airport project and all our other projects, will not just generate jobs; more significantly, they will provide knowledge, skills, and technology transfer in construction, engineering, the operation of equipment and technologies, ground handling, aircraft maintenance, and many other fields,” Ang said in the statement.

SMC President Ramon S. Ang and TESDA Secretary and Director General Suharto T. Mangudadatu, signed a memorandum of agreement

The SMC-Tesda partnership, which started in 2020, is now expanded to include Pangasinan, Laguna, and Palawan. Initially, the partnership covered residents of Bulacan, Bataan, Batangas, Quezon Province, General Santos City, South Cotabato, and Davao del Sur.

“This gives our people a chance to learn valuable and highly-specialized skills right here in our country, while earning a decent living, and helping our country’s growth and development. Later on, they can bring these skills with them for better opportunities abroad, or to continue working for us to operate and maintain our facilities,” Ang said.

SMC separately selected 115 engineering graduates for “extensive training” as it prepares to open the Metro Rail Transit Line 7—which links Metro Manila and Bulacan province—by 2025.

The conglomerate said new graduates mostly from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines’s (PUP) pioneering railway engineering program. It added that 40 cadets who topped their evaluation exams were sent to South Korea to train under its national railway operator Korail, which is also SMC’s partner in the MRT-7 project.

“We want to be able to provide them with the tools they need to enhance their competencies, prepare them for when the MRT-7 starts operating and eventually make meaningful contributions to the wider community. I am confident they will not only shine but also redefine standards,” Ang said.