SINGAPORE — Singapore has stepped up its push to prepare workers for an AI-driven economy, launching more than 200 artificial intelligence courses alongside a new career and skills centre designed to connect workers with training, employment and career guidance.
The initiatives were unveiled on Sept. 16, 2026, during the SkillsFuture Festival 2026, the first edition held under the newly established Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA).
The new agency was formed by bringing together SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore, with the aim of creating a more integrated system linking skills development, career support and workforce transformation.
More Than 200 AI Courses for Singapore Workers
The new AI training catalogue covers different levels of capability — from using AI to improve workplace productivity to developing more advanced skills for AI-enabled roles and business transformation.
The courses are offered through about 30 SWDA-supported training providers, giving workers multiple pathways to build AI-related capabilities depending on their career needs.
Eligible Singapore citizens aged 18 and above who take part in the curated AI courses from Sept. 16 will also receive six months of complimentary access to selected premium AI tools.
The tools listed include ChatGPT Plus, Google AI Pro, Manus AI, Microsoft 365 Personal and Singtel AI Pass, which provides access to multiple AI tools.
The initiative comes as AI increasingly changes not only the tools employees use, but also the tasks and skills required across different occupations.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the government cannot know yet whether AI will ultimately create more jobs than it displaces, but said the nature of jobs and the skills required for them will change.
New Connect by SWDA Centre Opens
Alongside the AI push, SWDA launched Connect by SWDA at the Lifelong Learning Institute in Paya Lebar.
The centre is intended to bring together services that workers and jobseekers previously had to navigate across different programmes and channels.
According to SWDA, visitors can receive support covering career guidance, learning opportunities and employment assistance, while employers can seek advice on workforce transformation, job redesign and skills development.
The centre is designed around a broader shift in Singapore’s workforce strategy: connecting training more closely to actual jobs and careers while making government support easier to navigate.
Wong said workers should be given opportunities to develop alongside their companies when businesses transform through technology and other changes.
Employers Get New One-Stop Workforce Portal
SWDA also introduced OurWorkforce, a new one-stop digital portal for employers.
The platform replaces the existing SkillsFuture for Business website and brings together training and workforce-development resources. Businesses can use it to identify relevant training, receive recommendations and explore tools for workforce transformation and job redesign.
The government is also encouraging companies to consider their workers’ skills needs at the same time they plan technological or operational changes.
That means workforce planning is increasingly being treated as part of business transformation rather than something handled only after major business decisions have already been made.
AI Readiness Quiz to Help Workers Find the Right Courses
SWDA has partnered with the Singapore Institute of Technology to develop an online AI Ready Quiz.
The 12-question assessment takes about 15 minutes and evaluates users across three AI-readiness levels. Participants receive a personalised profile and recommendations for learning resources and curated AI courses.
The approach reflects a larger challenge facing workers: simply offering more courses does not necessarily make it easier for people to know which skills they actually need.
Singapore’s new workforce strategy is therefore placing greater emphasis on connecting skills, career decisions and employment opportunities rather than treating training as an isolated activity.
Why Singapore Is Putting AI Skills at the Centre of Workforce Policy
The new measures arrive as Singapore prepares workers and companies for an economy in which AI is expected to reshape tasks, occupations and business models.
Wong said careers are likely to become less linear as technology changes, making continuous learning increasingly important. He also stressed that employers have a role in training workers rather than expecting education institutions to prepare people for every specific job from the outset.
For workers, the message is increasingly clear: AI adoption is not simply about learning how to use a new tool. It is also about understanding how roles are changing and identifying the skills that can remain relevant as workplaces evolve.
With 200-plus AI courses, new career services and expanded employer support now being rolled out, Singapore is attempting to build a more connected system for navigating that transition.
And as AI continues to change what companies need from their workers, the bigger question may no longer be whether jobs will change — but how quickly workers can adapt alongside them.
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