Workers in five sectors including tech, engineering and human resources will now each have a dedicated organisation looking at their skills development needs.

Five organisations were designated as Skills Development Partners by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) at a ceremony yesterday held at the Lifelong Learning Institute in Paya Lebar, and will be in charge of identifying skills that workers in their sectors require.

These organisations include both trade associations and professional bodies and are: the Institution of Engineers Singapore; the Institute for Human Resource Professionals; Singapore Computer Society; SGTech; and the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI).

SSG chief executive Tan Kok Yam said this initiative is a key plank in SSG's efforts to enable lifelong learning, particularly in its mission to link the needs of individual workers with the evolving needs of businesses and jobs. The five partners will help SSG know what training programmes to provide, he added.

He said: "SSG is no expert in running engineering firms, IT companies or human resources outfits, much less to be the authority on how they should transform.

"This is where we will lean heavily on our Skills Development Partners to bring in that sectoral lens."

Speaking to The Straits Times on the sidelines of yesterday's event, SGTech chairman Wong Wai Meng said the initiative is timely.

SGTech is an association which represents more than 1,000 technology companies here.

Mr Wong added: "In the past, identifying the right skills for the sector was done sporadically in pockets by the Government, companies and institutes of higher learning.

"While this saw some success, as a professional body we can understand from our members and work systematically to communicate to SSG what skills the sector needs."

Moving forward, SSG will explore working with more organisations to come on board as Skills Development Partners, it said.