Published by: Tay Hong Yi (The Straits Times)
Although industry players lauded the moves to extend the workforce skills upgrading push in recent Singapore Budgets, they also called for more information in the coming weeks on how the latest schemes can be calibrated to address different workforce and training needs.
A $300 monthly training allowance for mid-career workers aged 40 and above undergoing selected part-time training programmes from early 2026 is a major scheme Prime Minister Lawrence Wong unveiled in his Budget statement on Feb 18.
It expands on the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Training Allowance for mid-career workers undergoing full-time training previously unveiled in Budget 2024. The scheme for full-time training is poised for launch in mid-March.
From what has been announced to date, it is unclear how the allowances will account for key factors that would affect the extent to which workers feel the pinch in relation to course fees and other training-related expenses.
To start with, some part-time studies require learners to cut back on work hours and potentially draw a lower salary, while other people take night classes that do not eat into their hours spent working.
Moreover, workers who still need to pay for all or part of the course fees themselves may be in greater need of help, compared with those funded by employers.
Observers have pointed out the need for levers to calibrate training allowances to address key aspects of learners’ personal circumstances.
Associate Professor Terence Ho, deputy executive director at the Institute for Adult Learning, noted that the $300 training allowance is intended to help defray training-related expenses, whereas the larger allowance for full-time training also reflects the opportunity cost of wages forgone.
These training-related expenses include fees and course materials, as PM Wong said in his maiden National Day Rally speech in 2024.
Whatever the case, PM Wong indicated in his Budget speech that more details would be given during the upcoming debate on the Ministry of Education’s budget.
Meanwhile, lower-wage workers aged 30 and above stand to benefit from a revamped Workfare Skills Support (WSS) scheme for lower-wage workers, in another major announcement for workers in the latest Budget statement. Previously meant to support these workers while they take short courses over a few days, the scheme will be enhanced to spur them to pursue courses of a longer duration too.
For these courses, the WSS will take after the mid-career training allowance under the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, albeit with a lower age limit of 30 rather than 40. This allows younger, lower-wage workers to benefit from more skills-upgrading help.
“The lower qualifying age for the WSS reflects a targeted approach intended to support lower-wage workers earlier to strengthen employability, and presents them with more opportunities to gain necessary reskilling that will help to increase their income,” Prof Ho said.
Ms Jaya Dass, Asia-Pacific managing director at human resources agency Randstad Enterprise, said middle- and higher-income workers aged 30 to 40 are in a better position to fund their training or convince their employers to fork out for training that lets them step up to higher-level roles.
“Being a lower-wage earner is a double whammy… Not only is the chance of you being outdated and out of a job higher, but it is also harder for you to afford upgrading.”
She added that companies usually prefer to spend limited training funds on promising talent who would be key to keeping and growing the company’s know-how, and who tend to earn higher wages compared with rank-and-file workers.
Other than helping workers already in the workforce, the latest measures have the potential to draw more people into the workforce too, some observers say.
Long-term caregivers re-entering the workforce are a group that Mr Lee Mun Choon, general manager of continuing education provider HMI Institute of Health Sciences, is keen to help.
The institute trains both aspiring healthcare assistants, including mid-career entrants under the SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme, and existing healthcare professionals wishing to hone their skills.
Courses on offer range from full-time ones taking four to five months, to those lasting several days that impart specific skills such as drawing blood.
“On our front, we also encounter students who may be trying to return to the workforce but haven’t drawn a salary for over 12 months as they have been caregivers to the family,” Mr Lee said. These workers may face difficulties as the full-time mid-career training allowance does not apply to individuals who have been unemployed for more than a year. Even if approved, the allowance quantum is tied to half of an applicant’s income over the latest available 12-month period, which would be weighed down by time spent not working.
In the meantime, Mr Lee hopes the short courses the institute has developed will allow long-term caregivers to gradually apply their skills in gig work as healthcare assistants.
As for the changes targeting businesses, Mr Hao Shuo, chief executive of the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), welcomed the refreshed SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit scheme and the new SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant (WDG), which funds up to 70 per cent of companies’ job redesign activities.
Mr Hao said the new grant will offer businesses improved and simplified support for workforce transformation, with funding levels significantly better than the 30 per cent to 50 per cent under the existing Productivity Solutions Grant for Job Redesign that SNEF manages.
“SNEF looks forward to continuing our anchor role in job redesign under the new WDG and supporting the broader business community in their transformation journey.”
Noting that a survey of employers SNEF conducted showed nearly two in five employers would like enhanced support for job redesign, he said: “We believe this will spur more companies to take up job redesign to support their business transformation and make a real impact to jobs and workers.”
However, Mr Hao added that labour shortages remain a common complaint among employers.
“While it is possible to adopt technological solutions to be more manpower-efficient, such transformation does take time,” he said.
“Thus, employers are hoping to see more foreign workforce policy adjustments to alleviate perennial manpower challenges. This is especially important to companies that are undergoing their transformation journey, as they need to balance both operational needs and investments in the reskilling of workers.”
In his Budget statement, PM Wong said the Government will set aside more resources to increase the capacity of schemes that groom promising Singaporean leaders, including via overseas exposure.
On this, Mr Richard Bradshaw, Asia chief executive for executive search firm Ethos BeathChapman, suggested that any further support be tiered in favour of talents who take up the gauntlet in emerging markets.
“We get some business (to hire for) roles in Papua New Guinea, Nepal and similar countries. Even if we offer a lot of money, it’s seen as a very, very tough sell,” he said, citing personal safety and quality of living concerns.
He also drew attention to the possibility that the new workforce development grant might blunt the drive of Singaporeans to gain global exposure. “If I feel like reskilling locally can provide me more career progression now, might I be less inclined to consider overseas postings?”
Overall, Ms Dass called for clearer communication when a bumper crop of workforce schemes are overhauled or introduced as part of a Budget. “A lot of companies, when they speak to us about Budget initiatives, are a bit lost on how to… take advantage of these initiatives. Anything that the Government can do to make what is being set up, what is being done, who can benefit, with all terms and conditions, be very clearly known will help.”
Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we incorrectly attributed Associate Professor Terence Ho’s quotes. This has been corrected.
