Building deep skills complements productivity drive

IN many ways, this year's Budget continues the push to transform Singapore's economy. The goal is quality growth and sharing the fruits of that growth more evenly. Most Singaporeans have something to gain from this year's budget. Examples include enhanced subsidies for school-going children, greater contributions for workers, and subsidies for low and middle-income workers.

But the key plank in this year's budget has to be the SkillsFuture initiative. It is a significant undertaking indeed, with the government setting aside S$1 billion per year for the next five years, aimed at helping Singaporeans acquire deeper skillsets valued by industry.

SkillsFuture complements the ongoing productivity drive. While the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) and other productivity initiatives aim at boosting capital productivity, SkillsFuture raises labour productivity by building capacity in our workforce in a way that is more closely matched to employer requirements. This investment in skills upgrading is what will sustain real wage growth, as global competition intensifies and technological advances challenge a growing range of jobs.