Close to S$1 billion committed for Career Conversion Programmes, helping more than 40,000 so far

SINCE 2016, Singapore has committed close to S$1 billion for Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs), with more than 40,000 local workers having benefited so far, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said in a written reply to Parliamentary questions on Monday (Feb 6).

He was replying to Nominated Member of Parliament Abdul Samad, who had asked about the take-up and budgets of various employment support programmes.

CCPs provide salary support for employers to reskill mid-career workers for new jobs with better prospects and progression opportunities. Workforce Singapore offers close to 100 CCPs across about 30 sectors.

Abdul Samad also asked about the Capability Transfer Programme (CTP), which provides funding support for companies to acquire global capabilities not available in Singapore. This includes bringing in foreign specialists to train locals, sending locals overseas for training, and facilitating remote capability transfer from foreign specialists.

Since its introduction in October 2017, the CTP has committed about S$5 million to projects that have supported over 1,000 local workers, said Dr Tan.

Take-up of the CTP has been low in recent years due to pandemic travel restrictions, he said, but added: “With the gradual resumption of international travel, we are observing more enquiries and applications for the CTP, and we expect take-up to increase.”

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He also highlighted support efforts besides those that Abdul Samad asked about. From April 2020 to April 2022, around 200,000 locals were placed into jobs, traineeships and attachment opportunities under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package. Of these, eight in 10 were placed into permanent jobs.