D. Equipping Workers Throughout Life

67. A growing economy creates more well-paying jobs. But the jobs of the future will not be the same as the jobs of today. Rapid technological advances, especially in AI, will transform workplaces and jobs.
68. Just a few years ago, tools like ChatGPT didn’t even exist. Now there is a rapidly expanding ecosystem of AI models. They can generate high-quality text, images, and videos. They can write better programming code than many experts, assist in complex problem-solving, and even help to accelerate research breakthroughs.
69. AI will get better in the future, and other new disruptive technologies will emerge. It is hard to predict how they will impact specific industries and jobs. But one thing is clear: our workers must be equipped with the skills to stay competitive and relevant. That’s why we are investing heavily in lifelong learning, and have made significant moves to strengthen SkillsFuture as a key pillar of our social compact.

Encouraging Lifelong Learning

70. At last year’s Budget, I introduced the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, to support mid-career Singaporeans in getting a significant skills reboot.
1. a. Under the programme, all Singaporeans aged 40 years and above will get $4,000 in SkillsFuture Credit.
2. b. From next month, individuals can apply for a training allowance of up to $3,000 per month for selected full-time courses. They will have 24 months’ worth of allowance, which is up to $72,000 per worker.
71. Some Singaporeans prefer to continue working, while upskilling on a part-time basis.
1. a. Take for example, Ms Zarina Binti Abdul Rahman. She started out as an intern in Randstad Sourceright, a global recruitment agency, and is now an office administrator.
2. b. She wants to upgrade her skills in business operations, but is unable to pursue full-time studies due to her work and family commitments. So she is pursuing a part-time Diploma in Business Practice at Nanyang Polytechnic.
72. While workers like Zarina continue to earn their salaries during part-time training, they also incur training-related expenses.
1. a. We will therefore extend the training allowance to workers undergoing part-time training.
2. b. They can enjoy a fixed allowance of $300 per month to defray their learning expenses.
3. c. And this part-time training allowance will be implemented early next year.
4. d. The Minister for Education will share more at the Committee of Supply.
73. We will also give a further boost to our lower-wage workers, who will benefit from early upskilling.
1. a. Today, our lower-wage workers can tap on the Workfare Skills Support Scheme from the age of 30.
2. b. The scheme provides employers with absentee payroll support when they sponsor workers for training. It also provides workers with a training allowance when they go for self-sponsored training.
74. Currently, the Workfare Skills Support Scheme is designed primarily to support short courses that are completed over a few days. But lower-wage workers stand to benefit more from longer-form courses that provide more substantial reskilling and upskilling.
75. We will therefore introduce an enhanced tier of support under the Workfare Skills Support for lower-wage workers. This enhanced support will be modelled after the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, and will benefit lower-wage workers when they turn 30. So this will start earlier at age 30. The Minister for Manpower will share more details at the Committee of Supply (COS).
76. Our Institutes of Higher Learning are key partners in supporting lifelong learning. They equip our workers with relevant skills for a changing economy, and provide a dedicated setting for deep learning.
1. a. We will support the Singapore University of Social Sciences (or SUSS) in developing a new city campus. This will enable SUSS to champion lifelong learning and deliver programmes with a strong social emphasis, at an accessible location in the city for learners of all ages.
2. b. We will also extend the Singapore Universities Trust by 10 years to 31 March 2042 to support the fundraising efforts of our newer Autonomous Universities, namely SUSS and the Singapore Institute of Technology. The Trust provides matching grants for donations, to support our Autonomous Universities in building up their endowment funds.
77. Sir, the Government is fully committed to supporting the lifelong employability of our workers. We cannot stop the waves of technological innovations. Nor can we save every job. But we can and we will invest in every worker and every Singaporean. We will equip everyone with the skills to adapt, compete and succeed in a changing economy.

Supporting our Enterprises in Workforce Transformation

78. And in tandem, we will help our companies to restructure and transform, and to upgrade their workforce.
79. Companies are best placed to drive business and workforce transformation. But some may face difficulties doing so due to short-term cost pressures. And we’ve also received feedback and suggestions to streamline and improve the way government agencies administer their support to enterprises.
80. We will therefore introduce a new SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant.
1. a. This will bring together existing schemes administered by Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore, and simplify the application process.
2. b. The new grant will also provide higher funding support of up to 70% for job redesign activities.
81. In addition, we will introduce a redesigned SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit.
1. a. The credit is an existing scheme which helps employers defray the out-of-pocket costs for enterprise and workforce transformation.
2. b. But to use the credit, companies have to pay upfront for staff training, and then wait for reimbursement. And there are also employers who are not aware of the credit or how it can be used.
82. So we will redesign the credit to make it more accessible.
1. a. The revamped credit will operate more like an online wallet.
2. b. Companies can easily check how much they have. And they can use the credits to immediately offset out-of-pocket costs for eligible workforce transformation initiatives and courses, rather than do so on a reimbursement basis.
83. All companies with at least three resident employees will get a fresh $10,000 in the redesigned SkillsFuture Enterprise credit. The new credit will be available in the second half of 2026 and will last for three years.
84. Meanwhile, companies can continue to use the existing credit. It was originally due to expire in June this year, but we will extend it until the new credit is ready.
85. Our tripartite partners play key roles in workforce transformation. In particular, NTUC’s Company Training Committees (or CTCs) bring union leaders and employers together to design and implement workforce upgrading plans.
86. The results have been promising. Since the initiative started in 2019, NTUC has set up more than 2,700 CTCs. Almost four in five are in small and medium enterprises. Through the NTUC’s CTC grant, NTUC is supporting more than 400 transformation projects, which will benefit over 7,000 workers with better work prospects.
87. NTUC would like to start more CTCs and help more companies transform. We will support them in their efforts.
1. a. I will set aside additional funding of around $200 million for NTUC’s CTC grant, to help more companies transform.
2. b. We will also expand the CTC grant to support employer-led training that leads to formal qualifications or certifications.
88. Let me show how companies can benefit from all of these initiatives in a concrete way. Take for example SATS, our main air cargo handler and airline caterer at Changi Airport.
1. a. SATS is investing in new equipment and technology to improve the efficiency of its catering services. It also needs to train its workers to handle the new equipment, and redesign workflows and jobs.
2. b. It can access the additional $10,000 in SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit. It can tap on the new SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant to cover up to 90% of the cost for reskilling workers, and up to 70% of the cost for redesigning jobs.
89. SATS has worked with NTUC to form a CTC, and has been sending its employees for the Work-Study Diploma in Airport Operations at ITE.
1. a. The Work-Study Diploma helps these employees acquire critical skills, including managing operations and resource planning. And they can go on to take on supervisory roles in SATS, subject to good performance.
2. b. Currently, SATS fully sponsors its workers’ out-of-pocket programme fees. The CTC grant will help to offset some of these training costs, and provide enhanced funding for absentee payroll when the trainee is away from work.
3. c. So these are tangible benefits that companies can enjoy and we encourage all companies to press on with their workforce and business transformation.
90. In addition to broader workforce transformation, we will strengthen our support to nurture and groom Singaporean leaders in the corporate sector.
1. a. More and more Singaporeans are taking on leadership roles in large firms and MNEs operating here.
2. b. We want to grow this leadership pipeline. We will provide more support to equip Singaporeans and enable them to succeed on their own merit.
3. c. To compete for leadership roles with regional and global responsibilities, Singaporeans must gain overseas experience – managing operations in different countries, navigating diverse cultures and working seamlessly across borders.
4. d. Currently, government agencies like Enterprise Singapore, MAS and IMDA have schemes which support companies to send Singaporeans for overseas work postings and leadership milestone programmes. The feedback from such schemes has been positive. So we will set aside more resources to increase the capacity of these schemes, and provide more opportunities for promising Singaporean leaders.
5. e. And the Minister for Manpower will share more at COS.

Strengthening Support for Workers

91. Even with reskilling and upskilling, some workers may face career setbacks due to economic and business disruptions.
92. We will help workers who lose their jobs to get back on their feet through the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme, which will start from April this year. The scheme will provide financial support of up to $6,000 over six months, to give our workers assurance as they undergo training or search for jobs.
93. We will also increase the provision of career matching services. Today, WSG and its partners, like NTUC’s e2i, run about 30 centres and touchpoints islandwide, placing about 40,000 jobseekers every year. The centres work with the jobseekers to shortlist jobs, work on their resumes, and prepare them for interviews.
94. Besides nationwide programmes, there is benefit in facilitating job search at a localised level. This will help jobseekers who prefer to take on jobs near their homes, for example, to balance work and caregiving responsibilities.
1. a. Today, North East CDC runs Job Placement Centres for its district, in partnership with WSG. The centres have yielded meaningful outcomes.
2. b. We will expand localised job matching to all CDCs across the island.
95. We will also strengthen our support for two groups of workers in this Budget – seniors and ex-offenders.
96. More seniors are staying employed as our population ages. We want to work with employers to tap on the experience and wisdom of seniors who are able and wish to continue working.
1. a. In the immediate term, I will extend the Senior Employment Credit (or SEC) by one year to end-2026. This will provide wage offsets for employers who hire Singaporean seniors aged 60 and above, and earning less than $4,000 a month.
2. b. In line with the increase in the re-employment age, I will raise the qualifying age for the highest SEC wage support tier to 69 years old, from 68 years old today. The Government will reimburse companies up to 7% of the wages that they pay to workers aged 69 and above.
97. Later this year, MOM will convene a Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment. The workgroup will undertake a holistic and longer-term review of senior employment policies, to improve the employability of seniors, and increase the availability of jobs that better suit their needs.
98. In line with the recommendations of the Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers, we will proceed with the next step of planned CPF contribution rate increases for senior workers. We will increase the CPF contribution rates for those aged above 55 to 65 by 1.5 percentage points in 2026.
1. a. We will also continue to provide the CPF Transition Offset to employers for another year, to cover half of the increase in employer contributions for 2026.
2. b. With this move, senior workers can build up their retirement savings. And businesses will get continued support from the Government to cushion the impact on business cost.
99. For ex-offenders, employment is integral to their reintegration into society. To encourage employers to give ex-offenders a second chance, we had earlier introduced the Uplifting Employment Credit, which provides a wage offset to employers hiring ex-offenders.
1. a. Last year, the credit supported close to 700 employers in hiring more than 1,500 ex-offenders.
2. b. To encourage more employers to hire ex-offenders, I will extend the Uplifting Employment Credit to end-2028.
100. Sir, Singaporeans are at the core of everything we do. We will do everything we can to develop and realise the potential of all our people, so that they, in turn, realise their aspirations and dreams for themselves and their families.

D. Equipping Workers Throughout Life

D. Equipping Workers Throughout Life

Encouraging Lifelong Learning

Supporting our Enterprises in Workforce Transformation

Strengthening Support for Workers

ANNEXES