Early SkillsFuture Support Top-up for Retrenched Individuals under Age 40

16 Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim asked the Minister for Education whether the Government will consider allowing retrenched individuals under the age of 40 to receive an early top-up of their mid-career SkillsFuture support.

Mr Desmond Lee: The $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) top-up is given to Singaporeans aged 40 and above, who may require a substantive skills reboot having completed their work-ready qualifications many years ago.

Singaporeans who become involuntarily unemployed and are looking to pivot into job roles with longer-term growth prospects can consider taking up career transition programmes, such as the Workforce Singapore's Career Conversion Programmes and the Infocomm Media Development Authority's TechSkills Accelerator programme. These programmes are available to eligible Singaporeans under the age of 40 and receive substantial funding support from the Government. Through these programmes, individuals are placed into jobs and receive a salary while undergoing company-led training. Individuals can also consider SkillsFuture Singapore's SkillsFuture Career Transition Programmes that provide training for up to 12 months as well as employment facilitation.

We will continue to monitor the training needs of Singaporeans and calibrate our support as appropriate.