SINGAPORE – All Singaporeans aged 40 and above will be given a $4,000 top-up of SkillsFuture credits in May to encourage mid-career workers to refresh their skills and progress in their careers.

They will also be given subsidies to pursue another full-time diploma at polytechnics, the Institute of Technical Education and arts institutions from the academic year 2025.

Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced in his Budget speech on Feb 16 that this move will give Singaporeans another bite of the education subsidy, even if they have graduated from an institution of higher learning as a young adult.

He added that the $4,000 credit top-up, under a new SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, will be “more targeted in scope”. Its usage will be confined to selected training programmes with better employability outcomes. These include part-time and full-time diplomas, as well as post-diploma and undergraduate programmes.

DPM Wong, who is also Finance Minister, said: “We want participants taking up these programmes to be assured of better employability outcomes after they have completed their training.”

Younger Singaporeans will receive the same top-up once they reach 40. The $4,000 credit will have no expiry date.

Those aged 40 and above will also be given a monthly training allowance when they enrol in selected full-time courses from 2025, to partially offset income loss from taking time off work.

The courses that are eligible include full-time SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme courses, and full-time publicly funded courses at institutes of higher learning and arts institutions up to the undergraduate degree level.

The allowance will be equivalent to 50 per cent of one’s average income over the latest available 12-month period, up to $3,000 per month.

Each person can receive up to 24 months of training allowance throughout his or her lifetime. If an individual has been unemployed for more than a year, the training allowance will not be applicable.

Mr Calvin Li is one of the many Singaporeans who will be able to reap the benefits of the newly announced initiatives.

The 40-year-old project director at Khoon Engineering Contractor believes that training and upskilling can broaden his career opportunities and contributions to the workforce. He previously made a career switch from finance to the electrical engineering industry, and has attended different courses run by tertiary institutions and Workforce Singapore.

“What you study in school isn’t what you become or where you end up,” he said. “It is about your mindset – what is more important is that you are willing to try. Learning is a never-ending process.”

DPM Wong said the Government invests heavily in human capital, but learning cannot stop when formal schooling ends.

Singapore’s workforce ranks highly in terms of skills and technical proficiency, but expertise is in constant flux with rapid technological advances, he said.

That is why more investment has to be made to help workers update their skills, and learn how to harness new technologies more effectively, he added.

Since SkillsFuture was started nearly 10 years ago, the Government’s spending on continuing education and training has nearly doubled to $900 million in 2023, he noted.

But much more can still be done even as good progress has been made in this area, he said, adding: “Continuous skills upgrading throughout life is now more important than ever.”

The support measures for mid-career workers aim to help those who need a skills reboot and have to take time off work to attend training over an extended period while juggling financial and caregiving obligations, DPM Wong said.

Support for the involuntarily unemployed

Under SkillsFuture, more help will also be given to workers who are involuntarily unemployed, said DPM Wong.

The scheme will be designed carefully, taking into consideration the quantum of assistance and other conditions that come with the support, he added.

“This is to avoid the pitfalls that other countries have experienced when they introduced unemployment benefits,” he said, adding that more details will be provided later this year.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had previously announced plans to offer temporary financial support to retrenched workers during his 2023 National Day Rally speech. He said the scheme will enable those who are laid off to attend skills courses rather than seizing whatever jobs are offered out of desperation.

In his speech on Feb 16, DPM Wong said the Government’s move to provide temporary support for this group of workers comes amid technological changes that will bring about more churn in the economy.

Thus, even when the economy as a whole is doing well, some businesses, or even industries, may be suffering, he said.

“In some sectors, firms will have to let go of people, while in other sectors, new and better jobs will be created,” he said. “We have to accept this reality, but it doesn’t mean we should be indifferent to the suffering caused when firms lay off workers.”

Those who become involuntarily unemployed naturally feel the pressure to rush into the first available job they find, even if it is not a good fit, to make ends meet. Ideally, however, they should upgrade their skills and find a job that fits their aptitude and talent, he said.

“Therefore, we will do more to support this group of workers.”

Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we said that those above the age of 40 will be eligible for the training allowance. This is incorrect. It should be those aged 40 and above. We are sorry for the error.