More people tapped SkillsFuture programmes in 2024, amid stronger support for mid-career workers

SINGAPORE - About 555,000 people participated in programmes supported by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) in 2024, driven by a push to support mid-career workers.

This is up from 520,000 individuals in 2023, said SSG in its yearly update on April 9.

SSG chief executive Tan Kok Yam said the increase was due to the support given to mid-career workers in 2024.

All Singaporeans aged 40 and above received in May 2024 a

$4,000 SkillsFuture Credit top-up

to refresh their skills and progress in their careers. The credit, which does not expire, can be used for more than 7,000 courses.

“More Singaporeans are taking courses that are designed for substantive employment outcomes,” said Mr Tan, speaking to the media.

These courses include degree programmes by institutes of higher learning and SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme courses, which grew in number from 179 to 239 in 2024. These courses help mid-career workers transit into in-demand sectors.

More using SkillsFuture credits

Of the 555,000 participants in 2024, 260,000 Singaporeans used their SkillsFuture credits, up from 192,000 in 2023, SSG said.

These include credits from three tranches – the $4,000 mid-career top-up, the $500 opening credit given when Singaporeans turn 25, and the one-time top-up of $500 given in 2020 to those who were 25 and above that year.

The majority of these learners took up IT-related courses, in areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber security and digital marketing, the agency added.

About 28,000 Singaporeans used the mid-career top-up – making up around 1.3 per cent of more than 2.1 million people who have received it, said SSG.

This figure also accounts for 10 per cent of all SkillsFuture credit users, said SSG.

“This is an encouraging take-up rate, given that the initiative was introduced in May 2024 (and) is still relatively new,” it added.

Mr Vinoth Nanda Kumaran, 41, is among those who used his mid-career top-up to make a career switch from logistics to data analytics.

He used his credits for several SSG-supported programmes – from getting his private-hire licence to taking data science courses and, now, pursuing a part-time degree programme in business analytics at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).

After more than a decade in logistics, Mr Vinoth became a private-hire driver in 2019 to spend more time with his son, who has autism.

In 2024, he took a leap of faith to pursue his long-time interest in data­ analytics, but faced difficulties finding a job with only a diploma in business engineering.

He then enrolled in his degree programme and, midway through, he took a semester off to attend a three-month data analytics bootcamp at Temasek Polytechnic.

Six months and 250 job applications later, Mr Vinoth landed a contract job at SUSS as a business intelligence developer, which he continues to do as he pursues his degree.

“To jump from logistics to data science was quite hard,” he said. “But I knew what I could offer – even though I did not have working experience, I was confident in my capabilities and just needed the platform to showcase them.”

Overall, about 1.05 million Singaporeans – 37 per cent of all Singaporeans – have used their SkillsFuture credits since they were introduced in 2016, SSG said.

Some who have not used their credits are already receiving fully subsidised SSG-training through their employers, it added.

Those aged 30 to 39 and 40 to 49 are the most active – 44 per cent of them have made use of Skills­Future credits since they were launched.

For those aged 50 to 59, 43 per cent have tapped their credits, while 32 per cent of seniors aged 60 and above have done so.

Among Singaporeans aged 25 to 29, 17 per cent have used their credits.

More employer involvement

SSG said that more employers in 2024 sponsored their workers for training, with 24,000 companies sending 241,000 employees for SSG-supported training.

This is up from 2023, when 23,000 companies sent 228,000 workers for such training.

Describing this as a “positive development”, Mr Tan said: “It shows that employers are investing in their workers, and, second, employers are finding these courses to be relevant to their needs.”

Among the 24,000 employers who sent their employees for SSG-supported training, 95 per cent of them were small- and medium-sized enterprises, SSG said.

Businesses will continue to get support through better digital access to training resources, the increase in SkillsFuture enterprise credit – funds that employers can use to offset up to 90 per cent of SSG programmes or courses – and more guidance from industry leaders.

Employers are also increasingly hiring based on skills, and creating clearer pathways for certain roles like cyber security, said SSG, which hopes to provide more pathways in other sectors.

Better training quality and relevance

In 2024, more learners reported positive outcomes from SSG-supported training.

Some 69 per cent of them – slightly more than the 65 per cent in 2023 – gave the highest rating when asked if such training led to improvements in their work performance. And 64 per cent – up from 62 per cent in 2023 – attributed advancements in their careers to training.

Among those who enrolled in SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme courses, 54 per cent secured employment within six months of completing their training, said SSG.

To maintain quality, SSG has tightened standards for training providers, with about 15 per cent of them having been removed or withdrawn after undergoing quality assessment.

In November 2024, the agency gave an update on its plans to further

raise the quality of training courses

, one of which will suspend courses with low ratings for three months. These courses have to be improved before being able to rejoin the SkillsFuture directory.

This new measure is the first of several that SSG will implement by 2026 to raise the standards of courses.

“It is very clear that SkillsFuture will be a key pillar of our social compact,” Mr Tan said, adding that this means the agency has to “level up in all aspects”, like the delivery and quality of training, and industry partnerships.

In 2025, learners can look forward to greater quality of courses, adult educators and trainers, as well as more partnerships with employers and industry leaders, Mr Tan said.

He added that individuals will be given more “contextualised, timely, and personalised” advice, with more details to be announced later in 2025.

“We want, as much as possible, to put all the relevant information in the hands of individuals so he makes the best training choice for himself... that allows him to improve his career health… deepen in his profession, and gives him more options going forward,” Mr Tan said.