Training participation among Singapore's resident workers reached 54.8% in 2025, Acting Minister for Manpower Jasmin Lau said on 19 October. She called it an all-time high. She was speaking at the launch of the Institute for Adult Learning's (IAL) Skills-First framework.
54.8%Training participationResident workers, 2025
62,000+Locals placed into jobs2025
9 in 10Still employed after 2 yearsCareer Conversion Programmes
Source: MOM, speech by the Acting Minister for Manpower, 19 October 2026.
In short
- Just over half of resident workers took part in training in 2025.
- More than 62,000 locals were placed into jobs through the national job agencies.
- A new framework asks employers to hire and promote on skills, not only on qualifications and past jobs.
What this means for you
If you work or are job hunting
- Employers taking up skills-first hiring will look at what you can do. List results and skills on your resume, not only duties and degrees.
- Changing careers? About nine in ten people placed through Career Conversion Programmes were still in work two years later.
- Training you arrange yourself counts: participation includes courses workers take on their own.
If you are an employer
- The share of employers giving structured training fell to 64.0% in 2025. The NWC asks employers to train staff and redesign jobs.
- IAL's Centre for Skills-First Practices, the Singapore Business Federation and SNEF will help firms try skills-based hiring and promotion.
- Skills-first pilots are voluntary, so firms can test one practice before changing hiring.
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Fewer employees got structured training from employers in 2025
Training and job placements
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Resident workers who trained, 2025 | 54.8% |
| Locals placed into jobs by the Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) and e2i, 2025 | More than 62,000 |
| Career Conversion Programme placements still employed two years on | About nine in ten |
Participation counts any training a worker took. Structured training, in the chart, counts courses an employer provided, so the two measures differ.
What the framework proposes
- 12 pilot ideas for organisations to test skills-based hiring, training and promotion.
- A Skills-First Observatory to build evidence on which practices work.
- A Centre for Skills-First Practices at IAL, bringing employers and workforce leaders together.
- Partners: the Singapore Business Federation and the Singapore National Employers Federation will help businesses; the Labour Movement and e2i will help workers with career guidance and job matching.
The Minister cited the World Economic Forum's estimate that about 22% of jobs worldwide will be structurally transformed by 2030, and that nearly 40% of today's skills will change.
Your numbers
| Out of every | Figure |
|---|---|
| 100 resident workers | About 55 trained in 2025 |
| 100 employees | About 48 received structured training from their employer in 2025 |
| 100 employers | About 64 provided structured training in 2025 |
| 10 Career Conversion Programme placements | About 9 still employed two years on |
Rounded from the figures above.
What to do next
- Show your skills: the resume template lists results and skills, not only duties.
- Check the market: median pay for your job in the Singapore salary guide.
- Job market: the unemployment rate in Singapore.
- Employers: IAL's Centre for Skills-First Practices is the contact for the pilots, which are voluntary.
