Singapore bosses spent less on staff training programs last year: MOM

Training cost per employee down to $407.

The majority of employers continued to provide structured training to their employees in 2012, despite the tight labour market. Employers generally reported that the training had benefitted their organisational and staff performance.

These are the key findings from the biennial Survey on Employer Supported Training, conducted by the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Manpower Research and Statistics Department.

Employers spent less on training in 2012, partly reflecting the decline in proportion of PMETs (whose training fees are typically higher) sent for training.

The training cost per employee incurred by training-providing employers decreased from $511 in 2010 to $407 in 2012, or from $449 to $362 after deducting training grants/subsidies and costs recovered from training incentive schemes.

On the whole, the training expenditure per employee generally trended downwards over the eight years from 2004 to 2012 (-2.8% p.a.). Reflecting wider government support for training, the decline in employers’ net training expenditure per employee was more pronounced (-4.1% p.a.).