SMEs in Singapore can now look forward to stronger support for transformation, workforce upskilling, and business growth.
Through the new SME Partners Multiplier Programme launched on 11 September 2025 by the NTUC SME Partners, participating industry associations, trade bodies, and business clans, collectively called multipliers, will support SMEs in their transformation.
The multipliers participating in the programme include the Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC), the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, the Singapore Building Material Suppliers’ Association, and the LIN Chamber of Commerce.
Through the programme, the multipliers will work towards helping more SME workers access training and upskilling opportunities, while allowing their employers to tap into grants and digitalisation support to drive transformation efforts.
SMEs will also gain access to joint capability-building and transformation initiatives developed under the NTUC Company Training Committee (CTC) framework.
They can tap into the NTUC CTC Grant, which covers up to 70 per cent of qualifying costs for workforce and business transformation projects.
For SMEs, this means practical support in areas such as job redesign, digitalisation, human capital advisory, and training grants for workers’ skills upgrading, all aimed at improving productivity and building better workplaces.
For SME workers, the programme provides smoother career transitions, stronger employability through skills upgrading, and clearer progression pathways aligned with industry transformation.
With employers tapping into this wider ecosystem, more workers will have opportunities to upgrade their skills and secure better work prospects.
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General and Director of NTUC SME Partners Yeo Wan Ling said the initiative highlights NTUC’s commitment to support both SMEs and its workers, and help them grow and adapt to transformation.
She added: “We are working to build a collaborative ecosystem with trusted industry partners to come up with practical, sector-specific solutions that address the unique challenges SMEs face, while creating opportunities to uplift the wages and work prospects of SME workers.”
Beyond transformation efforts, the programme also strengthens the representation of SMEs at the national level.
Multipliers serve as channels for ground-level insights and sector perspectives, which will inform NTUC’s policy-shaping efforts in areas such as training incentives and regulatory changes. This ensures SME challenges are heard and addressed collectively.
Multiplier company SFIC President Joshua Koh noted that the collaboration will help SMEs in the furniture and furnishing industry embrace digitalisation, sustainability, and innovation, while reskilling employees to meet future needs.
The SME Partners Multiplier Programme launch builds on NTUC SME Partners’ ongoing efforts to improve the progression, protections, and privileges of SME workers.
Over the years, more than 80 SMEs have been supported in transformation strategies through the Operation and Technology Roadmap, 110 have tapped into the CTC Grant for training projects, and over 50 have built positive workplaces through NTUC’s In Your Workplace programme.
For more information, visit the NTUC SME Partners website.
