President Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. Good afternoon! I am glad to join you at the ninth edition of our SkillsFuture Fellowships and SkillsFuture Employer Awards.
A Decade of SkillsFuture
2. In the blink of an eye, it has been 10 years since we launched our SkillsFuture movement, to make lifelong learning a way of life. And we have made good progress:
3. Today, we have a good-quality training ecosystem.
4. And there is also strong participation by individuals as well as by employers:
- Every year, more than half a million people take up SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG)-supported courses.
- And more companies are engaging in the SkillsFuture movement.
- Last year, over 24,000 employers sent their employees for training – double the number in 2018.
5. This progress is encouraging. If anything, the SkillsFuture movement is even more critical today.
- Our environment externally is rapidly evolving, with the international order in great flux, technological cycles becoming shorter, and the impact of climate change becoming ever more apparent. These ongoing changes come together to create great uncertainty and unpredictability. No one can tell for certain, for example, how Gen AI will change how we work and live in the next 10 years.
- So it is even more important for us to be agile and resilient in the face of such unpredictability and such challenges. So the ability to adapt and learn throughout life, to seize opportunities and mitigate risks, will be one of Singapore's strongest responses to uncertainty and flux.
- To do so, we must all embody the spirit of the SkillsFuture movement, across Government, individual learners, employers, and training providers, so that our workers can upskill and reskill.
- This will help both workers as well as our employers, not just to stay relevant, but to strive to be at the leading edge of competition.
6. At the same time, we know it is not always easy to commit to training. There are real opportunity costs:
- Learners must juggle other commitments like work and family. They can also face physical strain from doing part-time studies while working, with classes often held in the evenings and on weekends.
- Employers must endure the short-term pain of reduced staffing and training costs to achieve the longer-term gain of more productive and capable employees.
Celebrating Our Learners
7. So it is important that we not just encourage but also support individuals and employers to come onboard the SkillsFuture movement, and recognise and celebrate those who exemplify the spirit of lifelong learning and contribute to the movement. And we do this each year, through events like this, the SkillsFuture Fellowships and SkillsFuture Employer Awards.
8. Our SkillsFuture Fellows are individuals who have not only embraced the attitude of lifelong learning, but have also helped others to do so. Let me cite just one example from this year's recipients, Mr Khairilanwar bin Baharudin.
- Mr Khairil is an Asia-Pacific (APAC) HR Leader at Gemini Digital Payments Singapore who leads by example, by continually upgrading himself. Over the years, he has used his SkillsFuture Credit to deepen his own HR expertise and skills, and obtained multiple professional certifications in areas such as service excellence and business management, including as a Senior Professional with the Institute for HR Professionals (IHRP). This has equipped him with the necessary skillsets to navigate cross-cutting, strategic HR issues at his workplace, such as introducing a more transparent and structured promotion process across the APAC region.
- Mr Khairil is also committed to giving back to the community and uplifting others. He leads the MENDAKI Professional Networks for HR, where he recently worked with IHRP to establish and design a dedicated learning pathway for fellow Malay-Muslim HR professionals to attain professional HR certifications. He also supports his fellow professionals in attaining their certification, by facilitating tutorial support as well as mentoring sessions.
9. To celebrate more such individuals, I am happy to announce that from next year, we will be launching a new award in collaboration with the polytechnics and ITE, to recognise polytechnic and ITE students enrolled in Continuing Education and Training (CET) programmes who embody the spirit of upskilling and lifelong learning, and have made a positive impact at their workplace.
10. I encourage all of us to learn from the example set by role models such as Mr Khairil and other award recipients.
11. We will continue to support you on your upskilling journey in a couple of ways. For example, by:
- Defraying the cost of training, through both strong baseline support in the form of course fee subsidies and SkillsFuture Credits, as well as targeted programmes such as the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme for mid-career workers, who may be at higher risk of skills obsolescence;
- We also provide access to the latest job-skills insights to allow you to make informed, deliberate upskilling decisions, such as through the Career and Skills Passport and SSG's Jobs-Skills Insights publications.
Celebrating Our Employers
12. Let me now turn to the recipients of our SkillsFuture Employer Awards, who have stepped up to invest in their people.
13. One of the awardees for this year's SkillsFuture Employer Awards is PacificLight Power.
- PacificLight has adopted what we call "skills-first" practices. That means recognising workers' skills in hiring and career progression, and identifying the right skills that their workers need to build on. Such a "skill-first" approach aims to deliver long-term growth for PacificLight's people and the company as a whole. For example, PacificLight has built an in-house learning platform with customised courses, and conducts structured learning needs analysis for employees to ensure that their skills are constantly updated and relevant.
14. This year, we also recognise two companies with a special SkillsFuture 10th Anniversary Honours Award. Their exemplary commitment to workforce development has made significant impact not just to their employees, but also in their sectors and the wider community. And I am particularly glad that the awardees are two leading homegrown brands: DBS and Singapore Airlines.
- DBS has recently introduced an AI-enabled career coaching tool to help employees chart their own personalised learning journeys. As a SkillsFuture Queen Bee, DBS also supported over 380 local SMEs in their business needs, by identifying skills gaps and developing industry-relevant training.
- Singapore Airlines has fostered a strong, inclusive learning culture through its learning and talent mobility programmes to support their employees' career development. Through the Singapore Airlines Foundation, Singapore Airlines also uplifts aspiring youths, nurturing Singapore's next generation of aviation professionals through traineeships, mentorships and outreach programmes.
15. I welcome all our enterprises to join the SkillsFuture movement alongside all our awardees today. We will continue to partner you to promote meaningful upskilling:
- By helping employers build capabilities in "skills-first" practices through customised advisory support, for example through the Centre for Skills-First Practices that we launched at the Institute of Adult Learning just last month.
- We will work with companies to identify, recognise, and teach in-demand skills.
- And we will provide financial support for companies' upskilling efforts, such as through the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit.
Conclusion
16. On that note, congratulations once again to all our award recipients, and thank you for your dedication to lifelong learning. As we look ahead, let us reaffirm our commitment to our SkillsFuture movement: so that our individuals and enterprises can be competitive, adaptable and resilient no matter what headwinds come our way.
17. So on that note, congratulations and thank you for your hard work.