Companies with their own training programmes will now be able to tap the funds of a government- sponsored training scheme, labour chief Lim Swee Say announced yesterday.

Previously, firms had to send employees to training centres certified by the Workforce Development Agency to be eligible for funding under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur).

Mr Lim noted that this initial approach was 'quite restrictive'. After listening to feedback from companies since Spur's launch on Dec 1, the Government and the unions have decided to take a 'realistic approach'.

'So if companies are able to put in place a well-structured training programme - even though they may not be conducted in the Continuing Education and Training centres - we will now also support them under Spur,' he told reporters after a community event.

'Spur is a good programme and we are prepared to continually adapt the programme depending on the feedback from the industry.'

The $600 million programme was launched to help companies deal with the economic downturn, by using the lull period to send workers for training instead of retrenching them.

The Government will pay for up to 90 per cent of a worker's training in approved courses. Companies can also claim up to 90 per cent of a worker's salary from the Government, capped at $6.80 an hour, while the worker is undergoing training.

Mr Lim noted that Spur started off with designated training centres for workers.

It was then expanded to institutions such as polytechnics, before the Government decided to also certify training programmes of industry associations so that companies can turn to these associations to train workers.

'So now, we are taking the next step because there are companies (which) have in-house training programmes. So we will sit down with the companies and look at what kinds of training programmes they have,' he said.

Giving details on how this might work, he said unions will work with companies to get their training programmes recognised by the Government under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications scheme.

At the same time, course content will be enhanced so that a company's training programme will include subjects that improve the worker's chances for different types of employment.

He said the Government and unions will continue to take a pragmatic approach and refine the programme if needed.

This is because Spur's goal is to help companies manage excess manpower, invest in upgrading workers' skills and make companies more competitive.

So far, more than 30 companies have committed some 3,000 workers to programmes under Spur.

Mr Lim expects more to sign up as the full impact of the global recession hits home in the first three months of next year:

'By the first quarter of next year, more companies will feel the pressure. So it is very important that we maintain the momentum of Spur.'

The Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) welcomed the announcement, noting that it widens the range of training programmes available.

SNEF executive director Koh Juan Kiat said many companies will benefit as they have workers with specialised skills that do not fit into the range of training programmes currently provided under Spur.

'For instance, some companies require certain types of computer or technical skills that are relevant only to the work they do,' he said. 'With this, many will certainly benefit from the move.'

But Singapore Human Resources Institute executive director David Ang warned that there may be companies which could abuse the system by sending staff for training to get subsidies - but retrench them afterwards.

'Companies should be transparent and state clearly that a job awaits the worker after training,' he said.

aaronl@sph.com.sg