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This will include an increase in the salary support cap of up to S$45,000 per worker for employers, for the average six-month programme.
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower announced during the Committee of Supply 2024 debates that the Career Conversion Programme (CCP) will be enhanced.
During his speech, Minister for Manpower Dr. Tan See Leng said the announcements aim to provide greater support to employers.
Here is a breakdown of the upcoming enhancements:
- Expansion of salary support
There will be an increase of salary support caps for mature or long-term unemployed workers, with the maximum salary support being raised from S$6,000 to S$7,500 per month. For other CCP participants, the cap will be increased from $4,000 to $5,000 per month. This means that employers can receive up to S$45,000 of salary support for each worker for a six-month conversion programme.
- Expand Eligible Job Roles
The monthly training allowance cap for attachments under the CCPs will also be increased, from S$4,000 to S$5,000. The CCP will also be expanded for existing workers within the company. Today, CCPs can only be used to reskill existing workers in jobs that are at risk of redundancy. Moving forward, Minister Tan shared that the Government will support employers who are proactively reskilling existing workers to take on new growth job roles.
- Incorporate Structured Career Planning (SCP) workshops for employers/HR
Through the SCP workshops, prospective employers/HR will be able to conduct meaningful one-to-one career conversations with existing employees identified to undergo reskilling into new growth job roles under CCP, therefore equipping line managers and HR with capabilities to support their workers in developing career development plans.
Minister Tan shard that Workforce Singapore (WSG) will continue to review the programme offerings in consultation with the industry and encourages employers to get in touch with WSG to explore how they can tap on the CCP to meet their talent needs.
Partnerships
Minister Tan also shared that the Government will be partnering with various organisations for the following reasons:
- The Government will be supporting the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) to set up more Company Training Committees, or CTCs, to work hand-in-hand with company management to drive business and workforce transformation.
- The Government will also be working with NTUC, Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), and other Trade Associations and Chambers (TAC) in the financial services, ICT, retail and precision engineering sectors to implement structured career guidance workshops to equip line managers and HR with capabilities to support their workers in developing career development plans.
- Finally, MOM and SNEF have set up the Alliance for Action, or AfA, on Widening Access to Talent last year. This AfA, led by Dr Bicky Bhangu from SNEF and Aileen Tan, a HR Master Professional, is working with progressive businesses and TAC leaders to develop practical solutions to support skills-based hiring and workforce agility.
Business opportunities
The Government will also be working with businesses to expand overseas opportunities for professionals, managers & executives, to support Singapore to venture overseas and progress in their careers.
The Minister for Trade and Industry announced that the Government will introduce the Global Business Leaders Programme, or GBLP, to support businesses that send their Singaporean workers with leadership potential on overseas postings. The GBLP adds to the existing range of leadership development programmes.
To complement these leadership development programmes, WSG will launch a new Overseas Markets Immersion Programme (OMIP), which aims to encourage businesses with overseas expansion plans to send employees with little to no overseas market experience for overseas postings.
Businesses will also be better positioned to expand and compete in overseas markets, with a strong globally oriented team. The OMIP will provide financial support to the companies.
More details on the GBLP and OMIP will be announced in the next few months.
"Business leaders have consistently told me that overseas experience is valuable for career progression, in particular for corporate leadership positions. We will do more to help."
Minister for Manpower Dr. Tan See Leng
Lastly, Minister Tan shared that the CareersFinder, an integrated jobs and training recommender, will be enhanced to enable greater recognition of and reward for skills in hiring and career development.
In its first six months, more than 15,000 individuals have used the CareersFinder tool on Workforce Singapore’s MyCareersFinder portal.
More details on the CCP and MyCareersFinder can be found here.
Lead image / MOM
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