MTI study finds positive return to training for the low-wage

[SINGAPORE] Low-wage workers who attended some form of training between 2007 and 2009 benefited directly through higher salaries, according to a Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) study released yesterday. Such workers enjoyed an average wage increase of 3.1 per cent in the year they were trained, reinforcing the belief that training enhances low-wage workers' productivity levels, which in turn results in higher pay.

In its study of 6,000 Singaporean low-wage workers tracked over three years from 2007 to 2009, MTI found that this "positive causal return" to training occurred on top of year-to-year increments that other workers who did not participate in training experienced.

"As such, the results provide evidence of positive returns to training, and re-affirm the importance of skills upgrading for low-wage workers," said MTI economist Lee Zen Wea, who authored the study.