Finance sector pares training subsidies, focuses talent development in growth, priority areas
Annabeth Leow
TRAINING subsidies for staff in the finance industry will soon be scaled down, as part of changes meant to support a focus on growth and priority areas in the sector.
Noting that the economy and sector are “transitioning to a post-pandemic era”, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) on Wednesday (Jul 6) announced tweaks to enable “more targeted support” under training schemes by the IBF, an industry association that is the national accreditation and certification agency for the sector.
The changes will include lower subsidies and grant caps for participants in training programmes under the IBF-Standards Training Scheme (IBF-STS) and Financial Training Scheme (FTS). Course fee subsidy rates had already been pared to pre-pandemic levels from this month.
From Jan 1, 2023, they will be further reduced. Locals attending IBF-STS courses will be eligible for subsidies of 50 per cent, down from 70 per cent before, with a grant cap of S$3,000 for each participant, from S$7,000 before. The subsidy for FTS courses will go down to 30 per cent, from 50 per cent before, and the grant cap will fall to S$500, from S$2,000 before.
Meanwhile, funding for IBF-STS courses in the “Critical Core Skills” and “Future-Enabled Skills” categories will be limited to citizens and permanent residents who are employed by financial institutions or Singapore FinTech Association-certified fintech firms, from Oct 3, 2022 onwards. Self-sponsored individuals will no longer be eligible for funding. (There will be no change to the funding support eligibility for courses under the “Technical Skills” category.)
“These changes will better enable MAS to continue with increased funding support in growth and priority areas,” the MAS and IBF said in a joint statement, while adding that they “will continue to implement enhancements to specific talent development programmes”.
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These include Career Conversion Programmes to reskill professionals for growth areas like tech in finance; the Finance Associate Management Scheme to develop entry-level talent, including in growth areas such as green finance, data analytics, and wealth management; and the International Postings Programme to support overseas postings for Singaporeans.
The MAS and IBF noted that annual funding support for financial sector training grew to S$140 million during the pandemic – more than 10 times the pre-pandemic level – as they ramped up talent development in growth and priority areas, and temporarily boosted course subsidies.
“Overall, MAS expects training participation in the financial sector to remain robust, reflecting strong industry demand for reskilling and upskilling,” they said.
Even amid a gradual step down in subsidies, the MAS and IBF disclosed that nearly 25,000 individuals got training support in the first quarter of 2022 – which was dubbed “a positive reflection that the training and upskilling culture in the financial sector workforce has taken root”.
“We are glad to note that training participations have increased substantially over the last 2 years,” said IBF chief executive Ng Nam Sin. “IBF wants to build on this momentum to enhance our finance professionals’ employability through continuous upskilling and reskilling.”
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