SINGAPORE: Lower-wage workers paying their own way through substantial skills training can get support of at least S$300 (US$225) and up to S$1,500 a month from early 2026.
The Workfare Skills Support scheme, which currently offers allowances for short courses, will be expanded with a new tier targeting long-form training, Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamed said on Friday (Mar 7)
Called Workfare Skills Support (Level-Up), it will give self-sponsored lower-wage workers in part-time training a fixed monthly allowance of S$300.
Workers in full-time training will receive a monthly allowance of at least S$300, or up to half of their average monthly income over the latest available 12-month period.
To qualify, workers must be Singaporeans aged 30 and above earning an average monthly income of no more than S$3,000, among other conditions.
This means that lower-wage workers can receive up to S$18,000 a year for full-time training, and up to S$3,600 a year for part-time training – a significant increase from the training allowance provided currently.
Under the existing basic scheme, employers get wage support when workers go for training, while self-sponsored workers who pay for their own courses get an allowance of S$6 an hour.
Long-form courses – such as Nitec, Higher Nitec, diplomas, post-diplomas and undergraduate degrees – offer more robust training and greater opportunities for wage growth, Mr Zaqy said.
The scheme is modelled after the SkillsFuture Level-Up programme, which provides an allowance to mid-career trainees aged 40 and above. However, Workfare Skills Support (Level-Up) offers extended coverage, allowing up to 24 months of support before age 40 and an additional 24 months from age 40 onwards.
This is because workers in lower-wage jobs may require multiple rounds of training to transition into more complex roles or new industries, said Mr Zaqy.
"For lower-wage workers to put their newly acquired skills to good use, businesses must also transform lower-wage jobs for higher value-add and refine their processes for higher productivity," he said." So upskilling is just one-half of the equation."
Employers have already begun adopting technological solutions so that workers can take on higher-skilled and higher-value roles, he said.
On wage growth, Mr Zaqy said that real wages at the 20th percentile rose cumulatively by 5.9 per cent from 2019 to 2024, outpacing the 3.6 per cent growth at the median level.
"It means that although costs of living rose, the wages of our lower-wage workers rose even more," he said, adding that this has also helped narrow the income gap between lower-wage and median-wage workers.
Much of the growth in wages was seen over the last three years, when the Progressive Wage Model was expanded to cover three more sectors and two more occupations, said Mr Zaqy.
The government is now considering extending the Progressive Wage Model to the pest management sector, with further wage schedule negotiations with tripartite partners set for the next two years.
Mr Zaqy said that while uplifting lower-wage workers will lead to some increase in manpower costs, such workers are a modest share of businesses' overall manpower costs.
"We must all work together to reduce income inequality, which can cause rifts in our society if left unchecked," he said.
To ease cost pressures on employers, the Manpower Ministry will raise co-funding levels in the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme, which provides transitional support for mandatory wage increases for workers earning up to S$3,000.
For wage increases given in 2025, the co-funding level will rise from 30 per cent to 40 per cent. In wage increases given in 2026, the co-funding level will rise from 15 per cent to 20 per cent.
The government has disbursed about S$2.7 billion under the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme, co-funding wage increases given to more than 520,000 employees in 2022 and 2023.
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The Workfare Skills Support scheme, which currently offers allowances for short courses, will be expanded with a new tier targeting long-form training, Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamed said on Friday (Mar 7)
Called Workfare Skills Support (Level-Up), it will give self-sponsored lower-wage workers in part-time training a fixed monthly allowance of S$300.
Workers in full-time training will receive a monthly allowance of at least S$300, or up to half of their average monthly income over the latest available 12-month period.
To qualify, workers must be Singaporeans aged 30 and above earning an average monthly income of no more than S$3,000, among other conditions.
This means that lower-wage workers can receive up to S$18,000 a year for full-time training, and up to S$3,600 a year for part-time training – a significant increase from the training allowance provided currently.
Under the existing basic scheme, employers get wage support when workers go for training, while self-sponsored workers who pay for their own courses get an allowance of S$6 an hour.
Long-form courses – such as Nitec, Higher Nitec, diplomas, post-diplomas and undergraduate degrees – offer more robust training and greater opportunities for wage growth, Mr Zaqy said.
The scheme is modelled after the SkillsFuture Level-Up programme, which provides an allowance to mid-career trainees aged 40 and above. However, Workfare Skills Support (Level-Up) offers extended coverage, allowing up to 24 months of support before age 40 and an additional 24 months from age 40 onwards.
This is because workers in lower-wage jobs may require multiple rounds of training to transition into more complex roles or new industries, said Mr Zaqy.
"For lower-wage workers to put their newly acquired skills to good use, businesses must also transform lower-wage jobs for higher value-add and refine their processes for higher productivity," he said." So upskilling is just one-half of the equation."
Employers have already begun adopting technological solutions so that workers can take on higher-skilled and higher-value roles, he said.
Related:
PROGRESSIVE WAGES
On wage growth, Mr Zaqy said that real wages at the 20th percentile rose cumulatively by 5.9 per cent from 2019 to 2024, outpacing the 3.6 per cent growth at the median level.
"It means that although costs of living rose, the wages of our lower-wage workers rose even more," he said, adding that this has also helped narrow the income gap between lower-wage and median-wage workers.
Much of the growth in wages was seen over the last three years, when the Progressive Wage Model was expanded to cover three more sectors and two more occupations, said Mr Zaqy.
The government is now considering extending the Progressive Wage Model to the pest management sector, with further wage schedule negotiations with tripartite partners set for the next two years.
Mr Zaqy said that while uplifting lower-wage workers will lead to some increase in manpower costs, such workers are a modest share of businesses' overall manpower costs.
"We must all work together to reduce income inequality, which can cause rifts in our society if left unchecked," he said.
To ease cost pressures on employers, the Manpower Ministry will raise co-funding levels in the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme, which provides transitional support for mandatory wage increases for workers earning up to S$3,000.
For wage increases given in 2025, the co-funding level will rise from 30 per cent to 40 per cent. In wage increases given in 2026, the co-funding level will rise from 15 per cent to 20 per cent.
The government has disbursed about S$2.7 billion under the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme, co-funding wage increases given to more than 520,000 employees in 2022 and 2023.
Continue reading...