Singapore govt pilots programme to help local companies bring in foreign trainers to increase expertise

To fill skill gaps in local companies of Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower has piloted a new scheme that will allow the foreign trainers to train people working in these companies.

Giving this information, Minister for Manpower Lim Swee Say said that the Capability Transfer Programme would help boost areas in which local companies lack expertise. He was speaking at the Human Capital Partnership programme today in Singapore

Minister for Manpower Lim Swee Say
Minister for Manpower of Singapore Lim Swee Say. Photo courtesy: gov.sg

The Minister said, “Focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises and companies that have a high impact on the entire industry, the scheme will provide co-funding for salary and training support to both foreign and local trainers of between 30 to 90 per cent. Funding support will also be provided for overseas on-the-job training, and the ministry will also facilitate work passes for foreign trainers if needed.”

Speaking about the challenges of future, Lim said, “Singapore has to make sure its future economy will be more innovative, and pointed out that Singapore's resident working-age population is projected to decline by about 0.1 per cent per year on average from 2015 to 2025, a reversal from the 1.3 per cent annual growth between 2005 and 2015.”

He added, “We have to make sure our future economy will not only be more innovative and our future workforce must be more productive, but more importantly, our future growth must be more inclusive.”

The Human Capital Partnership programme has been extended to include 56 more companies including BreadTalk, Gardens by the Bay and Jurong Port, bringing the total number of partners to 130.

The programme, first launched in 2016, aims to help employers develop their workforces.

Lim concluded, “We all share the same objective of speeding up capability transfer by reaching out to a wider base of companies in more sectors, so as to improve the skills and capability, jobs and careers of our local workers.”