Singapore Budget 2010 - Government to increase focus on employee training and productivity

Below are the relevant highlights -

Expansion of the Continuing Education and Training (CET) System
- The government will spend $2.5 billion over the next five years on CET, to build an outstanding CET system for adults. This will allow employees to develop competence in more complex tasks, mastery of skills and depth of expertise in every trade and profession.

Introduction of Workfare Training Scheme (WTS)
- The government will introduce a three-year Workfare Training Scheme (WTS) to complement the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme.

The WTS will:
- Subsidise 90% to 95% of absentee payroll and course fee outlay for employers, when they send their low-wage workers for training;
- Provide cash grants, capped at $400 per year, when WIS recipients complete their training;
- Introduce a structured training programme for those with very low skills, including those who are unemployed.

Enhancement of Workfare Income Supplement
- The government will enhance the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme as follows:
- Higher payouts. Maximum payouts for the WIS will be increased by between $150 and $400, with more going to older workers to encourage them to remain in the workforce; and
- Extension to more workers.The government will extend WIS to workers earning up to $1,700 per month – up from the current limit of $1,500 per month.

Enhanced tax deduction for training costs
- Under the new Productivity and Innovation Credit scheme, the government will grant a 250% tax deduction for the first $300,000 of expenditure on qualifying workers’ training. This enhanced tax deduction can be enjoyed on top of the training support under the WTS and other WDA programmes.

Sources and references: Sandbox Advisors, HRO, Straits Times