Financial allowance granted to employees who take time off work to upskill
The Singapore government is offering up to $18,000 in training allowance to lower-wage workers who want to upskill under the enhanced Workfare Skills Support (WSS) scheme.
The enhanced initiative, called the WSS (Level‑Up), will grant eligible workers financial support of up to $18,000 a year so they can take on more substantial and longer-term reskilling and upskilling programmes, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
"Such long-form training includes Nitec, Diplomas, Undergraduate degrees, and SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme courses," MOM said in a joint media release with Workforce Singapore.
"Applications will open on 9 February 2026, for training done from 1 March 2026 onwards."
New WSS (Level‑Up) scheme
Under the Level‑Up scheme, eligible individuals include workers who earn up to S$3,000 per month and are aged 30 and above, according to MOM.
Employees who take time off work to pursue full-time and long-form training will receive an allowance worth 50% of their average income over the latest available 12-month period.
The minimum training allowance will be S$300 per month, and can climb as high as S$18,000 per year, MOM added.
Meanwhile, employed individuals who want to take up part-time long-form training can get from S$300 per month up to S$3,600 per year.
"To support lower-wage workers in their career journey, WSS (Level-Up) will cover multiple periods of long-form training," MOM said.
"Trainees can receive support for up to 24 months of long-form training completed before the age of 40, and another 24 months of long-form training from the age of 40."
The enhanced scheme's training allowance is much higher than the existing WSS scheme, where employed individuals who attend short courses only receive S$6 per hour up to S$1,080 per year.
The eligibility criteria for WSS (Basic) will also apply to the new WSS (Level‑Up) scheme, according to MOM.
