Budget 2025: SkillsFuture changes make upskilling more accessible for businesses, employees

• SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme’s training allowance extended to part-time training
• SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit redesigned to allow immediate offsets instead of reimbursement
• SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant combines existing schemes, raises funding support

THE various SkillsFuture enhancements in Budget 2025 will make upskilling easier for companies of all sizes, as well as employees with particular needs, industry watchers said.

The changes balance the need to upskill against companies and employees’ cost and time concerns, they added.

In response to feedback, training allowances under the existing SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme for mid-career Singaporeans will be extended beyond full-time courses.

From early 2026, workers undergoing part-time training can receive monthly allowances of S$300.

Watchers praised the flexibility that this will offer. The allowance “will take a slight load off learners, especially since they already have to balance between work, life and studying”, noted Lin Xin, director at Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Continuing Education and Training Academy.

Parul Munshi, partner, workforce transformation, at PwC South East Asia Consulting, PwC Singapore, noted that not many have the luxury to undertake full-time training or learning opportunities, especially in the middle of their career.

The allowance makes upskilling “far more pragmatic, also much more doable multiple times (throughout employees’ lives)”, she said. Organisations will also benefit as part-time training is less disruptive to business, she added.

For lower-wage workers aged 30 and above, there will also be enhanced Workfare Skills Support for longer-form courses, with monthly training allowances for selected courses.

Watchers applauded the focus on this vulnerable group, with Lin noting that such workers “could use these training most, to take on higher value-added jobs to improve their lives and livelihoods”.

Streamlining grants

Beyond training allowances, Budget 2025 introduced the SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant, which brings together existing grants administered by Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore.

Under the new grant, job redesign funding support will also be increased, to 70 per cent of eligible activities.

Simplifying grants into a single source “might address potential challenges companies have navigating the complex scheme available to support workforce transformation”, said Lin.

The streamlined application procedures will be especially beneficial for smaller businesses, said Munshi.

She noted that anecdotally, small organisations with thinly staffed human resource or administrative teams often decide to forgo upskilling due to the complexity of applying for support. The administrative ease offered by the new grant should result in more companies picking it up.

As for the increase in job redesign support, Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) CEO Hao Shuo said it will be particularly helpful, “as job redesign sits at the nexus of enterprise and workforce transformation”.

He added: “We look forward to further details during the Committee of Supply debate and hope that the grant will provide broad-based support to employers across all sectors.”

Better credit

Meanwhile, the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit will be redesigned away from the current reimbursement-based system. From the second half of 2026, the revamped credit will operate like an online wallet that employers can tap immediately to offset enterprise and workforce transformation costs.

This addresses a key challenge faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), said Singapore Business Federation CEO Kok Ping Soon, noting that it was made in response to industry feedback.

Munshi noted that SMEs may not have the cash-carrying capacity to pay upfront, then wait for reimbursement.

Lee Tiong Heng, global investment and innovation incentives leader, Deloitte Southeast Asia, agreed that the revamp “will help with reducing administrative burden and cashflow”.

All companies with at least three resident employees will also get a fresh credit of S$10,000 when the redesigned credit is launched. Until then, the current credit will be extended beyond its original expiry of June 2025.

Beyond individual changes, the entire suite of measures reinforces Singapore’s support for upskilling, and “unlocks an innovation culture across organisations of any size”, said Nicki Doble, principal adviser, corporate transformation, KPMG in Singapore.

Yet, as upskilling for Singaporeans took centre stage, some observers noted a lack of support for complementary foreign talent.

“We were hoping to see some incentives to help attract key talent to relocate to Singapore, or measures to encourage people to commit to making Singapore their home, versus being a transient foreign talent in Singapore,” said Adrian Sham, tax and private clients partner, Grant Thornton Singapore.

SNEF’s Hao similarly called for more policy measures to support the growth of a highly skilled foreign workforce.

Murray Sarelius, partner, head of personal tax and global mobility services, tax, KPMG in Singapore, noted that the government has a strength in “making Singapore good for Singaporeans”.

However, he added: “I think the only point to watch is that we don’t make it too difficult to import talent when we need it.”

If Singapore lacks certain home-grown skills, he noted, “you either need to send people out to gain that, bring them back – or you need to bring people in and then have that knowledge transfer”.