NTUC urges gov’t, employers to provide new training support for employees

Amongst the support which employers can provide is a training allowance, said NTUC.

National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng proposed several initiatives that can help promote upskilling of employees.

In his keynote speech at NTUC’s inaugural Company Training Committee (CTC) Symposium, Ng urged companies to also form their CTCs.

Since 2019, NTUC has formed some 1,600 CTCs with companies and trained over 100,000 workers across various sectors. NTUC aims to set up some 2,500 CTCs by 2025.

“By institutionalising workers’ training in tandem with business transformations through CTCs, we enable employers to enjoy increased productivity and better business outcomes, while workers benefit from improved wages, welfare, and work prospects, sustainably,” Ng said.

Ng also encouraged employers to provide skills allowances to motivate workers to attend training, and protected time hours to ensure that the workers’ salaries and leave credits will not be affected when they attend training.

Meanwhile, NTUC urged the government to provide training allowance for workers to undergo deep skilling. The allowance will help the workers cover monetary needs while pursuing long-term training.

NTUC said the government must also consider providing subsidies for workers who wish to pursue a diploma or second degree and lower the eligibility age for the use of SkillsFuture Credits.

Companies can tap on the NTUC CTC Grant to fund their transformation projects to raise productivity, redesign jobs, and upskill workers.