SINGAPORE – A new national initiative, Career Health SG, was launched on July 10 to support workers in accessing the right mix of training and on-the-job learning, so they can make informed and decisive career moves aligned with their aspirations.

A new one-stop website, also called Career Health SG, was also unveiled. It offers both workers and employers an overview of the available support measures that can help them with career and workforce planning.

The initiative was announced by Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng during the inaugural Career Health Summit 2025, attended by over 500 business leaders and human resources practitioners.

The two-day summit, jointly organised by Workforce Singapore (WSG) and the Singapore Business Federation, seeks to have employers and experts exchange ideas on building a workforce that stays strong amid uncertainty.

Dr Tan said employers play a vital role in building a healthier workforce, as they are best placed to identify the skills that warrant investment through employee training.

He also called for employers to move to a skills-first approach in recognising and deploying talent, rather than fixating on formal qualifications.

“This will allow businesses to unlock even wider talent pools to stay ahead of the competition.”

A Ministry of Manpower (MOM) study found employers who embraced skills-first practices saw faster hiring, more diverse hires, and improved employee performance, he added.

He also said employers who wished to invest in workers’ career health but did not know how to start by following these three steps.

First, assess skills gaps or jobs at risk. Next, chart a plan to help uplift workers’ skills, and then execute the plan through structured progression pathways and skills-first approaches, he said.

Dr Tan said MOM will introduce more resources to help employers assess the skills readiness of their workforce, identify suitable training interventions, as well as opportunities for job redesign to optimise the skills of their employees later in 2025.

Meanwhile, workers will get to connect with career coaches under WSG’s career coaching programme Polaris to chart their career journey, and find out more about schemes that can help them overhaul their skill sets.

Dr Tan, a trained medical doctor, said: “Ultimately, my vision is for career health to be the new normal – it should be as central to our entire career journey, our lives and businesses as physical health is.

“Something that is readily discussed and actively managed by all.”

Dr Tan also shared updates on MOM and SkillsFuture Singapore’s partnerships with online job portals like JobStreet and FastJobs to deliver better, faster job matching through verified credentials under a careers and skills passport.

Since April, 23,000 people have shared their “passport” with partnering online job portals and prospective employers.

Based on current observations by hirers on these job portals, job applications with verified credentials were 1.5 times more likely to be shortlisted by employers, he said.

Dr Tan added that MOM and the Singapore National Employers Federation will be launching a new Alliance for Action on Advancing Career and Employment Services.

The alliance will bring together private career and employment service providers to develop innovative solutions to enhance businesses’ access to talent, including via new work models and strengthening employability of job seekers.

The new Career Health SG website can be found at

https://www.careerhealth.sg

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