Budget 2025: Singapore companies to receive more funding support to train workers

Companies with at least three Singaporean and permanent resident employees will receive a fresh S$10,000 credit as part of efforts to help employers defray out-of-pocket costs for workforce transformation.

Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said in his Budget speech on 18 February that some employers are not aware of the existing SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC) scheme or how it can be used. In response to this, the scheme has been redesigned to increase its accessibility.

Operating more like an online wallet, the revamped scheme will enable companies to easily check their credits and use them to immediately offset out-of-pocket costs for eligible workforce transformation initiatives and courses without waiting for reimbursement.

The validity of the SFEC scheme, which was announced in Budget 2020, has been extended till the new credit is ready. The redesigned SFEC will be made available from the second half of 2026, lasting for three years.

A new SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant was also announced to provide higher funding support of up to 70 per cent for job redesign activities.
 

Highlighting short-term cost pressures as a difficulty faced by companies, PM Wong said the new grant aims to pull together existing schemes by Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore, and simplify the application process.

Additionally, around S$200 million has been set aside to add funding to the NTUC Company Training Committee (CTC) Grant to help companies conduct more employer-led training that leads to formal qualifications.

The CTC Grant allows companies undergoing transformation to raise their productivity, redesign jobs or improve staff prospects by co-funding up to 70 per cent of the qualifying costs.

Companies can opt to use funding from the grant to cover in-house and external training, consultancy services, or equipment-related training.

The labour movement has established more than 2,700 CTCs since the initiative started in 2019, surpassing its target of 2,500 by 2025.

“Through the NTUC CTC Grant, NTUC is supporting more than 400 transformation projects, which will benefit over 7,000 workers with better work prospects,” he said.

More resources will also be catered to groom Singaporean leaders in the corporate sector, boosting the capacity of existing schemes to send Singaporeans for overseas work postings and leadership programmes, and providing more opportunities.

In his speech, PM Wong stressed that more and more Singaporeans are taking on leadership roles in large firms and multinational enterprises operating here. He added that the Government aims to grow this leadership pipeline and provide more support to enable Singaporeans to succeed on their own merit.

The feedback from such schemes, which come under agencies like Enterprise Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the Infocomm Media Development Authority, has been positive, PM Wong noted.

“To compete for leadership roles with regional and global responsibilities, Singaporeans must gain overseas experience – managing operations in different countries, navigating diverse cultures, and work seamlessly across borders,” he said.
 

PM Wong spoke of how home-grown air cargo handler SATS can benefit from the grants and incentives cited in his speech.

When SATS decides to invest 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.

“It can access the additional S$10,000 in SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit. It can tap the new SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant to cover up to 90 per cent of the cost for reskilling workers, and up to 70 per cent of the cost for redesigning jobs,” he said.

SATS has also worked with NTUC to form a CTC, sending its employees for the work-study diploma in airport operations at the Institute of Technical Education. This helps workers to develop skills such as managing operations and resource planning, enabling them to take on supervisory roles, subject to good performance.

He added that the CTC Grant will help offset some of these training costs, providing “enhanced funding” for absentee payroll when the trainee is away from work, noting: “Currently, SATS fully sponsors its workers’ out-of-pocket programme fees.”
 

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.