Effort and Resources Expended for 2016 Separation of Workforce Development Agency into Two Agencies, and Current Re-merger Plan

24 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what specific structural barriers between the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Manpower necessitated the 2016 separation of the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) into two agencies, SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore; (b) why the Ministry assesses that these barriers can now be managed; and (c) what new efficiencies will be achieved that were not possible under the original unified structure under WDA.

25 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what was the total financial expenditure incurred during the 2016 restructuring of the Workforce Development Agency into two separate statutory boards; (b) what is the projected cost of the current re-merger, including IT systems migration and rebranding; and (c) what specific annual savings are expected to justify this reversal.

Dr Tan See Leng: The 2016 restructuring of Workforce Development Agency (WDA) into SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and Workforce Singapore (WSG) allowed each agency to have a sharper focus in building up the continuing education and training (CET) and employment facilitation landscape respectively. The formation of SSG was driven by the need to enhance our national capacity to support lifelong learning and CET to help workers stay ahead of the curve in the age of digitalisation, at a time when the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) were still highly focused on pre-employment training (PET). This was best served by forming a statutory board under the Ministry of Education (MOE) to work with the IHLs to substantially expand their role in CET, while driving closer integration with PET. WSG, under the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), focused on developing and scaling new employment facilitation programmes in collaboration with the labour movement and private sector partners, and developing Jobs Transformation Maps to support companies in workforce transformation in line with industry developments.

Since then, significant progress has been made in ramping up CET provision by IHLs and private training providers, as well as in strengthening employment facilitation services and support for job redesign. The objectives of the 2016 restructuring have been met. However, our operating context has changed significantly since then. With a much faster-changing global economic landscape, accelerating technological advancements and a rapidly ageing workforce, we need to step up support for workers to stay relevant, navigate multiple career transitions and extend their career trajectories.

The priority going forward is to tighten the integration between skills and jobs, through a single agency that can provide more holistic support and pivot nimbly to deal with challenges relating to the future of work. The new agency will be jointly overseen by both MOM and MOE. It will benefit from MOM's labour market intelligence and industry networks as well as MOE's oversight of our education system and relationship with IHLs. Instead of being what the Member characterised as a "reversal" of the 2016 restructuring, the new agency will have new capabilities that SSG, WSG and WDA did not have, including more integrated jobs and skills intelligence. I hope that the Member will appreciate that we need to be agile and adopt different strategies at different times to address the new circumstances we face today.

The 2016 restructuring of WDA into two separate statutory boards did not require additional funding from the Ministry of Finance. Likewise, the upcoming merger is not expected to require additional funding. Over time, we expect greater synergies as common functions are rationalised. Cost-saving is not the driver for this merger. The merger is intended to ensure that our agencies remain fit for purpose in serving the needs and interests of Singaporeans as the labour market evolves more rapidly. Additional resourcing for new initiatives by the agency, such as efforts to uplift the training, career and employment services ecosystem, would be assessed on their individual merits.