Round-up Speech at Second Reading of Skills and Workforce Development Agency Bill
Minister Tan See Leng, Parliament House
Mr Speaker, I thank Members for their support as well as their questions and suggestions on the SWDA Bill. There are many points raised. I will attempt to address all of them holistically, and I will group the issues raised thematically and respond to the questions as best as possible.
Why this merger, and why now
2. First, I would first like to address some fundamental questions raised over the purpose of this merger. In particular, Mr Gerald Giam characterised the merger as a reversal of the position from 2016.
3. I disagree with this characterisation. It is more important to ask if the restructuring in 2016 was the right call then, and whether the merger moving forward is the right call now and for the future. The answer to both questions is “yes”. Let me explain.
4. The restructuring in 2016 allowed SSG and WSG to develop specialised capabilities in adult training and employment facilitation respectively.
5. This House then supported the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency Bill in 2016. Mr Gerald Giam’s former colleague, Mr Leon Perera, supported the aim to “bring about a far-reaching change in our adult education and training landscape by establishing an agency that is solely focused on adult education in ways that are intimately linked to economic goals.” This is in the Hansard.
6. SSG has achieved that aim – through SSG’s nexus with MOE, the IHLs have become the key pillars of CET delivery today.
a. Meanwhile, WSG expanded public employment services and introduced new programmes to address mismatches.
b. Both agencies have substantially achieved the objectives of the restructuring.
c. Earlier on, when I gave the speech, I elaborated extensively on the achievements of SSG and WSG.
7. As for why the merger is the right decision today, let me quote John Maynard Keynes, the father of macroeconomics, “When the facts change, I change my mind.”
8. Members of the House, with rapid advances in AI and technology, disruptions happening at a rapid pace, and mounting geopolitical disruptions, our operating reality has changed significantly and so must we.
9. The next bound of our workforce strategy requires an end-to-end system that connects skills to jobs more quickly and accurately than before.
a. It requires a more integrated structure so that we can be more agile and nimble in predicting, pre-empting and preparing for new opportunities and disruptions.
b. It also requires a greater variety and greater volume of services to meet the ever more complex and diverse needs of workers and employers.
10. Hence, in addition to delivering better services and programmes, SWDA has an expanded mandate to develop the broader career, employment and training ecosystem in Singapore, supporting innovative solutions and improving access to quality services.
a. This is what will make SWDA more than the sum of its parts.
b. To address Mr Saktiandi Supaat’s question, this is the key function in the SWDA Bill which goes beyond those in the SSG and WSG Act.
11. At the same time, we must not lose the specialised capabilities that we have built over the past ten years.
a. Mr Shawn Loh rightly highlighted the importance of preserving the strong relationship between IHLs and the SkillsFuture movement. Associate Professor Terence Ho asked how we will ensure that IHLs will continue to develop as institutions of lifelong learning.
b. Through MOE's joint oversight of SWDA, we will continue to deepen this relationship, strengthen complementarity between IHLs and private training providers, and improve coordination between CET and pre-employment training.
c. To address Ms He Ting Ru’s question on how SWDA might manage the reporting relationship to two ministries, MOM will be the parent ministry of SWDA, but the joint oversight arrangement with MOE, that means between myself and Minister Desmond Lee, will bring the IHLs into closer alignment with our workforce agenda, ensuring that skills development is pursued in a coherent way. Members of the House, this is not a two-headed monster. This is a two-horse chariot, pulling in the same direction, charging ahead.
12. Mr Saktiandi Supaat and Mr Gerald Giam asked about costs.
a. The 2016 restructuring of WDA into two separate statutory boards did not require additional funding from the Ministry of Finance. Similarly, the merger will not require additional budget allocation.
b. Some costs will be incurred for branding, marketing and systems integration. These costs would have been budgeted for any regular refreshes, even if there was no merger.
c. These costs will be managed within the existing budgets of SSG and WSG and their reserves.
Raising the quality and focus of training
13. Ms Gho Sze Kee asked about the curation of SkillsFuture courses. She is right that not everything in the SkillsFuture catalogue has been directed towards our workforce development goals.
a. But SkillsFuture is much more than just training for industry.
b. SkillsFuture is a national movement to promote a culture of lifelong learning.
c. Cultivating the habit of lifelong learning matters. Remember, I kept emphasising earlier on about getting everyone to have that mindset change. How do we initatiate them, how do we start them into that habit? That matters.
14. In response to Associate Professor Terence Ho’s question, lifelong learning that is not targeted at employment will still come under SWDA’s purview.
a. SWDA will work with agencies such as People’s Association on the curation of such programmes.
b. We encourage all Singaporeans to learn not just for their current job, or the next job, but also in their areas of interest.
c. Not all training leads to immediate employment and wage gains.
d. And so the SkillsFuture catalogue includes some interest-based courses.
15. However, when it comes to funding, we do make a very clear distinction between industry-oriented and interest-based courses.
a. While the base tier of SkillsFuture Credit is applicable to a wide range of courses including those for personal interests, Government funding for course fees is only applicable for courses that offer skills relevant to that specific industry, which will support the workforce’s upskilling needs.
b. The additional SkillsFuture credit for mid-careerists is further scoped to courses that meet more stringent criteria on employability outcomes and industry relevance.
Connecting training to good jobs
16. It is essential that SWDA’s good work is closely linked to industry and of top tier quality. I would like to address two misconceptions from Mr Kenneth Tiong’s speech.
a. First, unlike what Mr Tiong shared earlier on, there are significant guardrails to ensuring that SkillsFuture courses are top-quality, with industry playing a big role in ensuring the relevance of training. Our TACs and professional bodies come together to help curate and signpost courses; and some employers serve as SkillsFuture Queen Bees to provide training for other companies, including SMEs in their respective sectors. As SWDA, we will work with industry to play an even bigger role.
b. This brings me to my second point. Mr Tiong perhaps may not have fully understood, and has over-simplified SkillsFuture. It is not just an individual credit scheme. SkillsFuture sits alongside the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit, which employers can use to send their workers for training. These employers and individuals need to co-pay for training programmes, whether through their credits or out-of-pocket. They must also invest their time and effort. This creates skin-in-the-game. Companies and workers must choose the best courses worth their while, and training providers must regularly up their game to compete. Government, of course, plays a role in regulating the provider, the course and the adult educator as well. As pointed out by Ms Jessica Tan, our success depends on the ecosystem, on the individuals, employers, and other stakeholder and partners playing a big role.
17. This ecosystem is therefore central to the Skillsfuture movement, and will continue to be so under SWDA. As Mr Darryl David rightly pointed out, SkillsFuture is fundamentally an instrument of economic mobility and employability.
18. This now brings me to the core of SWDA’s mandate – and that is to support Singaporeans at every stage of their careers through promoting lifelong learning, strengthening their career health and enhancing access to good jobs.
19. Dr Wan Rizal identified two distinct gaps that SWDA must close – the first-job gap for fresh graduates, and the career transition gap for mid-careerists.
a. Mr Darryl David highlighted that that students often make decisions about courses and career pathways without a clear understanding of labour market realities.
b. Mr Patrick Tay, Mr Desmond Choo and Ms Jessica Tan also raised concerns on how SWDA will support entry-level hiring amid business restructuring and AI-driven change.
20. On supporting fresh graduates to get their first jobs, I agree with Dr Wan Rizal and Mr Darryl David that we cannot wait until students graduate before we intervene.
a. SWDA will work with MOE and IHLs to bring industry exposure upstream, so that our students can have a clearer picture of the labour market well before they graduate. I’m not confident that we can go all the way to secondary school, as suggested by a member here, but we will certainly go upstream to bring that industry exposure to our undergraduates.
b. This means more systematic pathways into industry attachments, and clearer signals on skills and roles in demand.
c. At the same time, we will review measures to better support graduates who face difficulties in securing employment.
21. To support mid-careerists to chart their careers amidst a fast-evolving world, SWDA will empower them to take charge and strengthen their career health.
a. We will make good quality career guidance services more accessible to the broad middle of workers, and equip them with data-driven insights on jobs and skills, so that they can undertake the right training that connects them to the opportunities they are seeking.
b. We will look at tying course funding more closely to demand signals so that training translates to better career prospects.
c. The calls from Mr Darryl David, Mr Yip Hon Weng, Mr Shawn Loh and Associate Professor Terence Ho to tighten the nexus between training grants and employment outcomes are directionally aligned with our plans.
d. Dr Neo Kok Beng’s suggestion for SWDA to partner professional institutions to align training to professional accreditations will also help ensure that the skills acquired are recognised by the industry and can pave the way for career progression.
22. We are also supporting Singaporeans to acquire the skills and perspectives needed for a globalised economy. The Overseas Market Immersion Programme (OMIP), that Mr Kenneth Tiong spoke about, allows companies to send Singaporeans on overseas postings to build first-hand knowledge of international markets and bring these insights back home. We agree that such schemes can be made accessible to benefit even more Singaporeans, and have announced at COS this year that we will expanding OMIP to young professionals even earlier in their careers
23. Supporting our workers to acquire skills, experience and career agility is only part of the equation.
a. To maximise their potential, workers must also be able to signal their skills and experience to employers, be matched to jobs that make use of these skills and experience, and be rewarded fairly.
b. To this end, SWDA will also work to reduce information asymmetries in the labour market to facilitate more efficient job matching.
c. MyCareersFuture.gov.sg will continue to be our national jobs bank, where good jobs are visible, accessible and intelligently matched to jobseekers. To strengthen the pipeline of quality job listings, MOM, SWDA and sector agencies will work together to encourage more companies to list vacancies on the portal.Today, there are already over 60,000 job postings published on MyCareersFuture. We aspire to reach 100,000 job postings in 12 months from SWDA’s establishment.
d. We have forged partnerships with five online job portals. Singaporeans can use verified employment history and training data in their Careers & Skills Passport to apply for jobs on these job portals. The results are promising – applicants with verified credentials are 1.5 times more likely to be shortlisted by hirers.In line with SWDA’s expanded mandate, we will build ecosystem enablers such as data sharing mechanisms and accreditation frameworks to facilitate faster and better job matches.
Catering to diverse and changing needs
24. Several Members asked how SWDA will serve the diverse needs of workers and employers.
25. Ms Yeo Wan Ling, Dr Hamid Razak, Ms Elysa Chen, Mr Patrick Tay, Mr Melvin Yong, Ms He Ting Ru and Ms Jessica Tan have asked about worker segments such as caregivers, seniors, persons with disabilities, ex-offenders and those who have experienced health setbacks. We will partner community organisations like SG Enable, Yellow Ribbon Singapore and Community Development Councils to reach the more vulnerable segments. As Mr Melvin Yong suggested, we are studying ways to provide stronger support for more flexible work models such as fractional work that may better cater to their needs.
26. Mr Yip Hon Weng asked specifically about the role of NTUC and e2i.
a. e2i operates 27 out of 31 touchpoints islandwide for career matching and advisory.
b. NTUC is spearheading the Company Training Committee initiative, which involves $300 million funding to drive enterprise and workforce transformation.
c. Echoing Mr Desmond Choo, the labour movement will continue to be a strategic partner of SWDA in translating national strategies to practical support, by providing high-touch support to different worker segments through employment facilitation, training and workforce transformation.
27. For employers, they also have diverse needs depending on their industry size, sector, and business development plans.
a. Mr Mark Lee asked whether support will be differentiated for SMEs and large enterprises and whether SWDA will retain sector-specific expertise.
b. SWDA will tailor its strategies to better suit the different profiles of companies it serves.
c. In line with suggestions from Ms Yeo Wan Ling, Ms Eileen Chong, Mr Melvin Yong, Mr Shawn Loh, Mr Mark Lee and Associate Professor Terence Ho, SWDA will also explore ways to step up support for job redesign and on-job-training, so that training is customised to different workplaces and business models, helping our workers to take on higher value-added jobs.
d. Ms Yeo Wan Ling called for SWDA to support more companies in job redesign and workforce transformation, just like FairPrice’s Store of Tomorrow at Punggol. This will indeed be a priority for SWDA.
e. To address Ms Eileen Chong’s question about how we will support skills-based HR practices, we have recently introduced tools like TalentTrack and TalentTrack+, which help employers assess the skills readiness of their workforce and identify suitable training interventions.
28. Mr Gerald Giam asked how SWDA will coordinate with economic agencies under MTI. Today, WSG and SSG already work closely with MTI and sector agencies through established interagency coordination platforms.
a. With the merger, we will build on these mechanisms to deepen this coordination even further, tightening the nexus between jobs and skills, and between enterprise and workforce transformation.
b. Mr Giam – perhaps it’s late in the evening – may have forgotten. I personally have a stake in this, because I am also a Minister in MTI, so I wear two hats. Perhaps I’m the POH that he’s talking about, straddling two ministries, because I’m also the current Minister for Manpower. Hence, you can be assured on this point.
29. Mr Shawn Loh, Mr Mark Lee, Ms Elysa Chen and Ms Jessica Tan asked whether and how SWDA will work with trade associations and chambers (TACs), industry bodies and sectoral partners. Let me reassure all of you that they will be key partners of SWDA in supporting employers, playing three important roles:
a. First, as advocates for the manpower needs of their sectors, TACs and industry bodies will help SWDA to sharpen its workforce development programmes. Against the backdrop of recent global developments such as trade tariffs and the Middle East oil crisis, SNEF and SBF have provided timely insights on hiring sentiments and business outlook through dipstick business polls. This helped to inform the Government’s policy responses.
b. Second, they will serve as key programme partners that would increase the breadth and depth of SWDA’s coverage. SBF and SNEF, for example, have already been appointed as anchor programme partners for the Enterprise Workforce Transformation Package. This is our response to Associate Professor Terence Ho’s question about how SWDA will scale impact across the large number of SMEs in different industries.
c. Third, they will serve as multipliers, amplifying outreach to employers and driving mindset change on workforce transformation. SNEF has been co-leading tripartite efforts such as the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment and Tripartite Workgroup on Human Capital Capability Development, and can support efforts to engender mindset shifts towards the hiring of senior workers and HR practices.
30. Members may be wondering how SWDA’s approach to working with partners will be different from before. There will be two key shifts.
a. First, what we partner on. Today, most partnerships are focused on training. WSG has also partnered on job matching, career guidance, and job redesign, but these partnerships have been more targeted and scoped. With SWDA, we will expand and deepen these partnerships, to spur new innovations and raise the quality of career and employment services and training. Our initial efforts have begun through pilots under the Alliance for Action on Advancing Career & Employment Services and we will continue to build on these.
b. Second, who we partner with. SSG works with about 500 training providers while WSG has only a handful of appointed partners for career matching and guidance. So with this merger, SWDA will broaden this network beyond training providers to include more recruitment agencies, online job portals and other ecosystem players to diversify services. The goal is for workers and employers to have more options and better support, even as we safeguard and uplift the quality of service provision.
More proactive and anticipatory support
31. In a more volatile global environment, the needs of worker and employer segments evolve very rapidly. Ms Elysa Chen, Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Mark Lee asked how SWDA would play a more proactive and anticipatory role, to prepare workers and businesses ahead of disruptions. Data will be the critical enabler - SWDA will tap on various data sources, including MOM’s rich labour market data, demand signals from job postings and training take-up. We can splice and fuse the data in new ways to triangulate and distil fresh jobs as well as provide skills insights. These insights can then be applied to personalise services and deliver more targeted support proactively. We seek to leverage these insights to help more individuals enter into good jobs, build careers with better prospects and extend their career trajectories. As I explained earlier, SWDA will also work with the broader career and employment services and training ecosystem to create more value out of shared data, through analysis or building of value-added services.
32. Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about the relationship between SWDA, NTUC and SNEF, and if SWDA will engage them in devising and executing its plans. Ms Yeo Wan Ling called on SWDA to establish regular contact with stakeholders to remain plugged in with ground realities. NTUC and SNEF and their networks, they have and they are formidable resources. SWDA will leverage their resources and networks to intervene more decisively ahead of upcoming disruptions or downturns. Just last week, we announced the set-up of a Tripartite Jobs Council co-chaired by MOM, NTUC and SNEF to bring our collective capabilities to bear on the challenges and opportunities brought by AI. Many members today also spoke about AI. Ms Yeo Wan Ling spoke about the importance of treating workers as co-creators for AI adoption to ensure better outcomes. Ms Eileen Chong spoke about making job redesign a priority when companies integrate AI into their workflows. Later this evening (or tomorrow), this House will also discuss how we can work together in an era where AI transformation is increasingly pervasive. I will speak about the importance of concurrent enterprise and workforce transformation in making AI adoption more human centric.
Measures of success
33. Several Members asked how we will measure SWDA’s success.
a. For individuals, our ultimate goal is to help Singaporeans enter into good jobs and progress in their careers. We will measure SWDA’s effectiveness in doing so through indicators such as time-to-placement and wage growth, in addition to training and placement numbers. We already track these outcome indicators today to measure the effectiveness of our interventions. For example, about nine in ten Career Conversion Programme participants remained employed 24 months after embarking on the programme. About six in ten of those who participated in these CCPs earned more than their last drawn salaries.
b. For employers, we will look at outcomes on adoption of progressive practices in areas such as job redesign, on-job-training and skills-first hiring.
As a first step, we have introduced the Singapore Opportunity Index, to provide transparency to jobseekers on employers who promote opportunity and deliver strong career outcomes for their workers. So, to Ms Eileen’s Chong point, we are tracking such indicators and will continue to do so. We will continue to tweak and refine and up the ante.
c. At the economy level, SWDA will contribute to a more inclusive labour market with high resident labour force participation and sustained wage growth. Median wages have grown over the last decade and we will do our best to extend the growth trajectory. While not so easily measured, we also want to engender a culture of lifelong learning and career health to take root in the DNA of the Singapore workforce.
Governance
34. On the SWDA Board, Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about its composition and the knowledge it will bring. Mr Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari asked whether there will be worker representation. The Board will draw from diverse backgrounds — public sector representatives, senior business leaders from multinational corporations and local enterprises across different sectors, and key partners such as NTUC, SNEF and TACs. Beyond the Board, we also plan to engage international experts, so that our labour market programmes are informed by global trends and effective interventions elsewhere. The composition of the Board will be announced ahead of SWDA's establishment.
Transition and continuity
35. Mr Mark Lee, Ms Elysa Chen, Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Saktiandi Supaat have asked about the impact of the transition on existing schemes, applications and commitments. I would like to assure Members that SSG’s and WSG’s operations will be fully undertaken by SWDA from Day One. We will ensure uninterrupted service delivery, and existing grant and employment assistance commitments will be honoured. To the concerns raised by Mr Mark Lee, Mr Shawn Loh and Ms Yeo Wan Ling about potential overlaps, over time, we will work to rationalise programmes and streamline touchpoints to simplify the user journey.
36. Specific to Mr Yip Hon Weng’s and Associate Professor Terence Ho’s questions on whether MyCareersFuture and MySkillsFuture will be streamlined, we will holistically review the user journey across digital touchpoints, to build a more seamless user experience with better signposting to guide users to the appropriate digital services.
37. Mr Saktiandi Supaat and Mr Yip Hon Weng asked how the roles of SSG and WSG employees will change, while Ms Elysa Chen asked how front-line officers will be equipped to adopt a holistic instead of scheme-by-scheme mindset. We will organise SWDA by stakeholder segments so that those at the frontline can provide more holistic support across jobs and skills for their clients. As SWDA builds a more integrated operating model, roles and structures will evolve. We have identified suitable roles for all officers and are committed to managing this with care. We will redeploy officers where their experience is most valuable and develop those who need new skills to take on new roles. Our people have been the backbone of SSG's and WSG's achievements. SWDA's success depends on bringing them along.
Conclusion
38. Mr Speaker, I will now speak in Mandarin.
39. 科技加速发展，还有国际经济环境不断地变化，使我们的劳动力市场日益复杂。技能与职业发展如逆水行舟，不进则退 。国人如果不积极提升技能、及早规划职业生涯，在职场上难免会感到跟不上步伐，甚至错失良机。而企业如果不与时俱进，持续创新， 必然会落后于市场竞争。今天联合早报报道，五所理工学院共颁发终身学习奖给15人。其中就包括两位年过五十的王柏淯和苏思美。思美受访时说了一句话，说出了关键，“年龄不是问题，只要肯踏出第一步，你依然可以开启新事业”。王柏淯和苏思美是终生学习的典范，我们可以学习他们进取向上的学习精神 ，以应付劳动力市场的迅速变化。
40. 劳动发展局和精深技能发展局的合并将结合两局之长，为国人和雇主提供更全面和更有效的支援。新成立的技能及人力发展局是我国人力资源发展重要的一个里程碑。它将成为职业健康与终生学习的引擎。无论你正踏入职场、寻求转行、还是希望在事业上更进一步，我们都会与你同行。我们希望和每一位国人一起打造一艘稳健的“职业之舟”，让大家在不同的职业阶段，都能更有信心地掌握方向，在变化中找到属于自己的发展道路。
41. The formation of SWDA is more than a change in the machinery of our government. It is a statement of intent — that Singapore will never leave its workers alone in navigating an increasingly complex labour market. That we will build systems worthy of the trust Singaporeans place in them. That we will measure ourselves not by the number of courses run or amount of grants disbursed, but by whether people can find good jobs, grow in their careers, and face the future with confidence.
42. We are doing this at a moment of great uncertainty. AI and technology are reshaping industries faster than we can predict. Global economic headwinds are real. The past certainties about career paths and job security are giving way to something significantly more fluid, generating more anxiety, and more apprehensions, for many of us. But if you look at our history, Singapore has never thrived by waiting for the storm to pass. We thrive by building better ships.
43. SWDA is one such ship — built to carry our workers and our economy through whatever comes next. I look forward, and I invite all of you to come onboard, to sail together.
44. Mr Speaker, with that, I beg to move.