Effectiveness of Reskilling Initiatives for Mid-career Professionals and Measures to Support Workers in AI-impacted Sectors

23 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry can provide an update on the effectiveness of current reskilling initiatives for mid-career professionals in Singapore; and (b) whether the Ministry has plans to further enhance the support for such workers in sectors at high risk of displacement from automation and artificial intelligence.

Dr Tan See Leng: There is a wide range of reskilling programmes that all workers can tap on. Let me mention a few that are more focused on mid-career workers: Workforce Singapore’s Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs), Mid-Career Pathways Programme (MCPP), and SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme (SCTP).

The CCPs have supported the placement of over 7,000 locals in 2023. The majority of our CCP participants perform well. Approximately nine in 10 of participants stayed employed for at least 24 months and seven in 10 earned more than their last drawn salary. Earlier this year, we enhanced the CCPs by expanding the eligibility criteria and increasing the salary support caps to further support the reskilling of employees to take on growth job roles within the company.

We have also seen positive take-up of the MCPP and SCTP programmes since their launch in April 2022. The MCPP has supported more than 2,100 mid-career individuals through company attachments with more than 1,700 host companies to widen their professional networks and gain meaningful, industry-relevant skills and experience. Likewise, the SCTP has supported more than 5,000 individuals to acquire skills so that they can pivot into sectors with good hiring opportunities. We will continue to review our programmes to ensure they remain relevant to workers.

To support workers at high risk of displacement from automation and artificial intelligence, our approach is to provide insights on opportunities in the labour market and equip our workers with the skills to take on good jobs. The Government has launched 17 Jobs Transformation Maps (JTMs) to provide insights on the impact of technology on jobs in specific industries. Three new JTMs, including one on generative artificial intelligence in the financial services sector, will be launched. With these insights, workers can proactively tap on reskilling initiatives, such as the TechSkills Accelerator in the information and communications technology sector or the Technology in Finance Immersion Programme in the finance sector, to prepare for jobs of the future and enhance their resilience against tech-driven displacement.

To provide greater assurance to displaced workers, we will also be launching the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme next year to provide them with temporary financial support while they search for roles that better utilise their skills and experience.

The tripartite partners will continue to work closely to strengthen the employment resilience of our workforce. Workers must do their part, take the initiative to plan their careers and take deliberate steps to upgrade themselves. Employers will need to press on with business transformation, job redesign and proactively train and redeploy their workers into good jobs.