What kind of additional support do SMEs need from the government?

Five in 10 micro and small businesses are less confident about their 2024 growth prospects.

Grants aside, most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore (36%) want increased access to technology and innovation sources from the government.

SMEs (35%) also want more subsidised talent acquisition and retention schemes, as well as more industry-specific, tailored training and upskilling programmes, according to a report by Employment Hero. 

Some are also looking for a streamlined grants application process (34%), enhanced support for international expansion (33%), as well as rental assistance and infrastructure support (32%). 

Micro and small businesses, in particular, are looking for a streamlined grant application process and increased access to technology and innovation resources.

This is likely because micro and small businesses (58%) are less confident about 2024 growth prospects. In the past year, only 47% of micro and small businesses said their company performance was good, a lower percentage compared to medium-sized businesses (76%).

To add, medium-sized businesses have higher grant approval rates than micro and small businesses.

As a comparison, only 40% of micro and small businesses applied and got approval for the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG), whilst 65% of medium businesses received the grant.

The report, however, underscored that this is likely because micro and small enterprises have not applied or are not aware of available grants.