More employers in Singapore say that sending their workers for training will help their businesses to develop stronger resilience during this downturn. This was 93% in 2021 compared to 84% in 2020. However, a report from the National Trades Union Congress’s LearningHub states that not all of them are taking action to ensure their workforce are equipped with future skills.

The LearningHub's Employer Skills Survey report found that less than two thirds of employers (62%) are currently training or intending to train their workforce compared to the 93% who agree that training will help employees be more resilient.

Businesses in severely affected industries, i.e., tourism, aviation, retail, food services, land transport and arts and culture, are more likely to train their employees (as voted by 73%) in contrast to other industries (57% average).

The report also found that, of those who are sending their employees for training, more are keen on upskilling their workforce in technical, adaptive and digital skills, as compared to completely reskilling them. They are focusing on deepening employees' technical competencies relevant to their current roles (66%), improving their adaptive skills (65%) and equipping them with more general technology-related skills (57%). By contrast, slightly more than half (52%) of employers are seeking to completely reskill their employees with technical skills unrelated to their current roles.

NTUC LearningHub's Director of Technical Skills Product Division, Tay Ee Learn, said, "While many employers see the value of skills training, there is a mismatch in the action taken to upskill their workforce. We observe that this is often due to the lack of awareness of training support available or that employers simply do not know where to start. We recommend that companies take the first step by fostering a culture of lifelong learning.”