Digital transformation, inclusiveness boost in latest Singapore Budget

Singapore has presented a fourth Budget for the year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Singapore, noted that the situation is uncertain, and that Singapore is impacted by developments around the world. "The global economy is unlikely to recover quickly. We must be prepared for tough times, in the months ahead," he warned.

The S$33 billion Supplementary Budget focuses on supporting workers and businesses affected by border closures and safe distancing measures.

More than S$500 million has been set aside to support businesses in their digital transformation. "Those who are willing to transform will not be left behind," Heng promised.
Help is available for specific businesses which have not yet digitalised, For example, Heng said IMDA, NEA, JTC, HDB, and Enterprise Singapore will provide a bonus of S$300 per month over five months to encourage more stallholders in hawker centres, wet markets, coffee shops, and industrial canteens to use e-payments.

Businesses which are ready to take their basic payment and invoicing functions digital. The existing SMEs Go Digital programme was enhanced for COVID with Food Delivery and e-commerce Booster Packages. More than 10,000 food services and retail establishments have benefitted from these packages and gone online, Heng said.

Digital Resilience Bonus

A Digital Resilience Bonus will now add a further boost to digitalising businesses, beginning with the food and beverage (F&B) and retail sectors, as these are the "most affected by the safe distancing requirements as we re-open the economy".

Eligible businesses can receive a payout of up to S$5,000 if they adopt PayNow Corporate and e-invoicing, as well as business process or e-commerce solutions.

The Digital Resilience Bonus will have an additional tier of S$5,000 for F&B and retail businesses which also incorporate advanced solutions. S$250 million is earmarked to help businesses digitalise in partnership with digital platform solution providers and industry champions on projects such as developing offline-to-online (O2O) business models.

New digital platforms will also be built for online teaching and learning, and integrated with the latest artificial intelligence (AI) and learning science findings.

Encouraging innovation

To catalyse innovation via partnerships, a set of National Innovation Challenges will be introduced that ride on the success of the existing Open Innovation Platforms.

The partnerships are to focus on developing industry-led solutions to challenges that all businesses are grappling with: starting with how we can reopen Singapore safely – to achieve safe workplaces, safe homes, safe schools, and safe commuting.

"We hope that corporates, startups and others in the private and people sectors can step forward to form partnerships to provide solutions that can be scaled. The government will provide support for this innovation drive," Heng said.

A new SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package is to create close to 100,000 opportunities in three areas – 40,000 jobs, 25,000 traineeships and 30,000 opportunities for skills training. Specifically, the public sector will bring forward hiring to meet long-term needs in areas such as early childhood education, healthcare and long-term care.

In the short-term, there are 15,000 vacancies related to COVID-19 operations, such as healthcare declaration assistants and swabbers. The government will also work with businesses to create 25,000 jobs, Heng said.

Training

To ensure people have the right skills to take on the planned jobs, capacity will be expanded in career conversion programmes, such as in Place-and-Train conversion programmes under the Adapt and Grow Initiative, and Company-Led Training programmes under the TechSkills Accelerator or TeSA initiative. As of December 2019, over a thousand people have been trained in partnership with industry leaders such as Accenture, DBS Bank, and Google under TeSA, Heng shared.

"Over 90% of them have been emplaced in ICT-related roles. I look forward to more industry partners coming on board, to help prepare more Singaporeans for a future where digitalisation becomes increasingly important," he said.

Job-seekers will be able to gain industry-relevant experience through traineeships, with the possibility of gaining a permanent job with their host companies at the end of their traineeship. About 25,000 traineeship positions are to be created, 21,000 from the SGUnited Traineeships programme, and another 4,000 places under a new SGUnited Mid-Career Traineeships scheme, from June.

The SGUnited Traineeships programme was announced in the Resilience Budget in April 2020, targeting local first-time job seekers. Under the programme, WSG funds the training allowances with host companies for up to 12 months.

"I am glad to see strong interest from more than a thousand host companies. The public sector is also keen to offer new traineeship opportunities. With this momentum, I will more than double the provision, to provide 21,000 traineeships this year," Heng updated.

To support Singapore's technology and innovation drive, the traineeships will include technology-related areas that are in high demand or emerging rapidly. For example, agencies in our research and development sector, including universities, A*STAR research institutes, AI Singapore, and SGInnovate will work with local deep-tech companies and startups to allow trainees to work with industry partners on real-world science and technology projects. These will include areas such as software learning and AI.

A new SGUnited Mid-Career Traineeships scheme has further been created for unemployed mid-career job seekers involving 4,000 traineeships. As part of this initiative, WSG's Attach-and-Train programmes under the Adapt and Grow Initiative - targeted at mid-career individuals - will be scaled up.

SGUnited Skills

Another programme, SGUnited Skills, has also been introduced, with capacity for about 30,000 job seekers. Participants of this SGUnited Skills programme can take industry-relevant and certifiable training courses full-time, at highly-subsidised rates. SGUnited Skills will also offer participants a training allowance of S$1,200 per month during the course of their training. The programme will be rolled out progressively from July 2020.

"The course fees can be substantially,if not fully offset by the SkillsFuture Credit," Heng said.

"Job seekers will be given opportunities to apply their training, through attachments or participation in company projects. They will also be provided with career guidance and job placement support."

SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package enhanced

In the Unity Budget, rolled out in February 2020, the government announced a hiring incentive under the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package. This has now been beefed up. For eligible workers aged 40 and above, the incentive is now doubled to cover 40% of their salary over six months, capped at S$12,000 in total. For eligible workers under 40, the incentive will cover 20% of their monthly salary over six months, capped at S$6,000 in total.

"Together with other support, such as the special SkillsFuture Credit top-up of S$500 to every Singaporean aged 40 to 60 in 2020, we are providing specially-enhanced support for jobs and training for this group. If needed, they can also benefit from other support schemes this period, such as the COVID-19 Support Grant," Heng said.

Digitalising social services

The National Council of Social Service (NCSS) is mobilising corporate partners to lend digital expertise. Heng lauded those who have stepped up, including ThunderQuote which developed self-help guides on remote working tools, and TechLadies which provides general consultancy.

He also noted that creative digital solutions have been found to enhance existing processes. Project Belanja! by Food from the Heart, for instance, allows beneficiaries to scan a QR code at partner food stalls to obtain a hot meal, instead of relying on volunteers going door-to-door to deliver food.

Funding is currently available through the VWO-Charities Capability Fund. In future, these initiatives will also be funded by the Community Capability Trust which was announced as part of the Unity Budget.

Digital inclusion

Heng added that digital inclusion strengthens social resilience. "Regardless of age or resources, all members of our society should have access to digital resources, with no one left behind," he said.

Highlights of related initiatives include:

- The Ministry of Education (MOE) accelerating the timeline for all secondary school students to own a digital learning device.

- IMDA is to launch a Seniors Go Digital movement to support seniors in adopting digital channels, and equipping them with the digital skills to do

- A Digital Ambassadors movement to rally the community and volunteers to support our seniors to acquire digital skills.

- Seniors from lower-income households who wish to learn but are unable to afford digital devices will receive financial support.
 
Details:

Download a booklet detailing the Fortitude Budget