Employers will get higher subsidies - up to 90 per cent of course fees - for workers who attend programmes at any of the Continued Education and Training (CET) centres, which are institutes set up by the Workforce Development Agency.

They will also receive more reimbursements to cover the salaries of workers who are away on training - or what compoanies refer to as their absentee payroll. It will go up by 50 per cent to as much as $6.80 per hour.

Jobless Singaporeans are not forgotten.

For the first time, those who are unemployed and low-skilled will be paid $4 for every hour they are on a training course.

The amount is more for higher-skilled but jobless Singaporeans. They can get up to $1,000 a month when on training.

These measures come under a new training programme called the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience, or Spur for short.

The programme and funding kicks in on Dec 1 and will last for two years.

The cost: $600 million.

Announcing the details on Thursday, Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said: 'Not only can Spur help employers reduce manpower costs and save jobs, it will also help to upskill our labour force and strengthen our capabilities in preparation for the economic upturn.'

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