Budget 2024: S$4,000 SkillsFuture top-up for Singaporeans aged 40 and above

Source: CNA

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans aged 40 and above will benefit from a new SkillsFuture programme that includes a S$4,000 (US$2,970) top-up in credits, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Friday (Feb 16) in his Budget speech.

The national SkillsFuture movement was launched in 2015. Since then, training participation rates have increased from 35 per cent in the year it was started to around 50 per cent in 2022.

Close to 40 per cent of Singaporeans in their 30s have used their base S$500 credits, compared with about 25 per cent of those aged 60 and above.

While Singapore's workforce today ranks highly in terms of skills and technical proficiency, expertise is in constant flux with rapid technological advances, said Mr Wong on Friday.

Robots and machines will not completely replace humans at work, but will change the way expertise is defined and how value is created, he added.

This is why Singapore must help its workers refresh and update their skills, and learn how to use new technologies more effectively, said the Deputy Prime Minister.

With more layoffs expected this year, the National Trade Unions Congress (NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) have called for transition support packages for retrenched workers, including in the areas of upskilling and reskilling.