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Flexible work, AI adoption, and outcome-based funding feature high on the wishlist of this experienced HR and employee relations leader ahead of Singapore’s Budget 2026.
Ahead of Singapore’s Budget 2026 on 12 February (Thursday), Teofilus Ponniah, an experienced HR and employee relations leader, says the next few years could represent a turning point for Singapore’s human capital strategy, as geopolitical shifts reshape the global economic landscape.
Over the past 10 years, Singapore has taken a consistent approach to workforce planning, with Budget measures largely centred on raising the quality of labour and uplifting wages. These efforts have been supported by time-bound co-funding initiatives that help organisations keep labour costs manageable while adapting to change.
As the world approaches an inflection point in 2026, Teofilus believes Singapore is well positioned to take bolder steps by strengthening and better deploying the human capital already available locally.
This missing piece of the puzzle, he highlights, is the latent workforce.
One area of focus would be the latent workforce, who have skills and capabilities but are plagued by archaic work schedules and working hour thresholds. It would be good to see focused spending on the people who are able to work flexible hours.
To address this, Teofilus calls for focused spending on co-funding opportunities for organisations that demonstrate the ability to adopt flexible and part-time workers into mainstream roles, rather than maintaining traditional work schedules and fixed working hour thresholds.
If managed and executed properly, such measure have huge potential to help keep labour costs competitive while ensuring productivity does not dip in the medium to long term.
Secondly, positioning AI adoption as a workforce strategy and not a mere certification process would also be largely beneficial to Singapore.
With geopolitical shifts and tariffs influencing global markets, countries that double down on AI positioning for their workforce are likely to see stronger employment outcomes.
Co-funding in this area, he shares, could help to allay short-term cost increases often associated with implementing new initiatives, while supporting longer-term workforce capability building.
Finally, Teofilus expresses his hope that Budget 2026 moves away from participation-based funding schemes towards outcome-based incentives, with a portion of these incentives benefitting individuals directly, rather than the organisation.
Targetted wage co-funding tied to job redesign and skills certification, alongside clear placement outcomes, would help to strengthen mid-career conversion pathways and encourage greater uptake than in previous years.
Teofilus concludes:
Taken as a whole, the above will keep Singapore competitive, inclusive, and future-ready.
ALSO READ: Singapore Budget 2026: HR and business leaders share their manpower wishlist
Lead image / Provided
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