Question

Ms See Jinli Jean: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) since 2022, what is the proportion and extent of utilisation of SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit across (i) sectors and (ii) size of enterprises; and (b) how does the Ministry plan to increase the utilisation of credits by employers from (i) sectors with higher density of lower-skilled and/or lower-wage local and foreign workforce and (ii) sectors with higher incidence of retrenchment.

Written Answer by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong

1. The SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC) was introduced in 2020. To date, more than 36,200 enterprises have tapped on it with a total of $122 million disbursed. Amongst these enterprises, those with less than $10m in annual revenue make up the majority, with the top three sectors from Wholesale Trade, Manufacturing, and Construction.

2. We have enhanced and extended SFEC several times in the last few years to help more enterprises, including those with more lower-wage workers, benefit. For example, we removed the minimum Skills Development Levy contribution in 2022 to avail SFEC to more enterprises. As announced at Budget 2025, the Government will redesign SFEC into an online wallet to improve ease of use. Companies will be able to use the credits to immediately offset out-of-pocket costs for eligible workforce transformation initiatives, rather than do so on a reimbursement basis. This will help to ease any cash flow concerns for employers.