SkillsFuture mid-career support to cover 140 more training programmes, including tech job placements
Funding will cover more courses for mid-career workers who want to move into technology, maritime and offshore, and financial services roles.
Office workers walk across the UOB Plaza at lunchtime, Oct 19, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)
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SINGAPORE: SkillsFuture support for mid-career workers will be expanded to cover more training options in the technology, maritime and offshore, and financial services fields, announced Acting Manpower Minister Jasmin Lau on Wednesday (Oct 28).
Introduced in 2024, the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme provides S$4,000 credit for course fees and extends a training allowance to eligible Singaporeans aged 40 and above.
As of Jun 30, about 80,000 mid-career workers have benefited from the course credit and more than 11,000 have received the training allowance.
From Dec 1, the programme’s coverage will broaden to about 60 sector-specific training options chosen with industry partners that are “designed to lead to real jobs”, said Ms Lau.
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In the technology sector, SkillsFuture support will cover courses under the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) Tech Immersion and Placement Programme.
This combines intensive training in information and communications technology with placement in technology roles. It prepares workers to become web developers, agile software developers, mobile application developers, user experience designers and data analysts, according to IMDA.
In the maritime and offshore sector, selected certifiable courses under the Maritime and Port Authority will be eligible for funding.
In financial services, the funding will be for selected courses under the Institute of Banking and Finance’s Standards Training Scheme, which equips workers with key skills needed in the sector.
Ms Lau said this is part of efforts to strengthen the connection between training and real employment opportunities, so that workers feel the time and effort they put in are worthwhile.
“Workers are (more) likely to invest in new skills when they understand the skills their industry needs, when employers give them opportunities to learn and apply these skills at work, and of course when their efforts translate into meaningful career progression,” she added.
Apart from these sector-specific courses, another 80 or so courses that offer Workforce Skills Qualification across various sectors will also be eligible for SkillsFuture mid-career support.
In total, about 140 courses will be added to the roster of more than 7,000 already covered by the SkillsFuture mid-career training credit from Dec 1.
The Skills and Workforce Development Agency said participants in some of these additional courses will be eligible to receive mid-career training allowance at a later date.
They will also qualify for Workforce Skills Support (Level-Up), which supports lower-wage Singaporeans aged 30 to 39 enrolled in long-form training.
Ms Lau was speaking at the SkillsFuture Fellowships and SkillsFuture Employer Awards ceremony, which recognises workers and employers engaged in or supporting lifelong learning.
While workers may feel anxious that the skills they picked up early in their careers are no longer enough to carry them through their working lives, she said, technology can also “open doors”.
“(Technology) can free workers to take on new tasks and higher-value roles, at every stage of their careers,” she said.
“The question isn’t whether change will come. It’s whether we are prepared to keep learning, keep adapting throughout our lives.”
Source: CNA/dv/ml
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