Singapore must enable businesses to transform, workers to seize new opportunities in the ‘AI era’: Ng Chee Meng
WHAT ENTERPRISES CAN DO
Echoing his May Day Rally speech, Mr Ng said NTUC will also help businesses and workers use the company training committees (CTCs) to transform themselves to reap the benefits of AI “sector by sector, company by company”.
The CTC is a labour movement initiative first launched in 2019, in which employers are encouraged to form training committees with unions to work together on ways to boost worker career prospects and wages through structured training and technology adoption.
It is also supported by grant funding from NTUC of up to 70 per cent of the qualifying cost for each project.
More than 3,800 CTCs have been formed, with more than 300,000 blue- and white-collar workers benefiting from the projects and training, said Mr Ng.
While the labour movement has spearheaded the CTC initiative in the past, it will now do so with the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) as part of the new tripartite council in order to expand the CTCs nationwide, he said.
“NTUC will work through the details with SNEF, and put up our requests for funding when ready, and we hope the government will provide its full support,” he said.
But Mr Ng said a challenge that both business and workers face is “a fragmented, sometimes even conflicting, view of the AI landscape”.
He said Singapore needs its own trusted system of market intelligence and foresight that will give practical answers to questions about skills and job roles.
Such a system would bring together insights from trade associations on how industries are adopting AI, enterprise data on job redesign and productivity shifts, and union sensing on workers’ concerns and what kind of skills training works.
Youths can then get clearer signals on which skills will open doors, making their transition from school to work less anxious even as entry-level roles change.
PMEs and blue-collar workers can also get early guidance on how to improve their skills and use AI to augment their work, said Mr Ng.
Wrapping up his speech, he repeated his call for Singapore to act early to understand the changing job landscape, help enterprises and workers in seizing opportunities, and support those affected by the AI disruption.
Mr Ng said these moves are “a call for collective action in this AI transition”.
“This renewed compact must be the foundation of our unique tripartism in the AI era, keeping enterprises competitive, and workers firmly at the heart of our progress,” said the labour chief.
