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Marking six decades of skills development, the Tripartite Collective Dialogue brought partners together to reflect on past progress and discuss how tripartism can strengthen Singapore’s future workforce resilience.
The Tripartite Collective held its annual dialogue on 21 October, bringing together about 300 participants, including representatives including representatives from tripartite partners, the SG60 team, Temasek Foundation, statutory boards including Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore, and lecturers and students from Institutes of Higher Learning.
The session, themed 'Tripartism in action: Upskilling and reskilling Singapore over the years', marked 60 years of workforce development in Singapore and highlighted the nation’s evolving approach to skills development.
Opening the dialogue, Dr Tan See Leng, Minister for Manpower highlighted the central role of tripartism in building a skilled and adaptable workforce.
"Today is not just about looking back. It is asking ourselves how tripartism can further power our transformation in a world of constant change," he affirmed.
He then went on to outline how institutions such as the National Wages Council (NWC), SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and Workforce Singapore (WSG), together with initiatives such as the Skills Development Fund (SDF), SkillsFuture movement, and Company Training Committees (CTCs), supported Singapore’s workforce transformation over the decades. He also pointed to newer initiatives like Career Health SG and the Enterprise Workforce Transformation Package (EWTP), which focus on lifelong learning and company-level workforce transformation.
Following the minister's opening was a case study presentation by Terence Ho, Deputy Executive Director and Associate Professor (Practice) from the Institute for Adult Learning Singapore, Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), who talked about the development of Singapore's workforce – from vocational training in the 1960s to the SkillsFuture ecosystem today, chronicling the country's efforts while looking ahead to the next phase of workforce transformation amid new challenges.
Rounding up the main segments of the even was a panel discussion featuring Dr Tan alongside Ng Chee Meng, Secretary-General, NTUC and Tan Hee Teck, President, SNEF President. Together, they discussed Singapore’s strong education and skills ecosystem, its forward-looking mindset, and initiatives such as SkillsFuture and Career Health SG. They also emphasised that ongoing workforce transformation will require closer collaboration across government, unions, and businesses to build a more agile, personalised, and industry-aligned skills landscape.
In his closing remarks, Stephen Lee, Advisor, Tripartite Collective emphasised the collective responsibility of tripartite partners.
"I am reminded that the strength of our workforce lies not in any single entity, but in the collective commitment we share as tripartite partners," he said.
He encouraged open dialogue and sharing transparently to ensure workforce development strategies remain responsive to both worker aspirations and industry needs.
The dialogue highlighted how tripartism has underpinned Singapore’s workforce transformation for six decades and will continue to guide the nation’s upskilling and reskilling efforts in the years ahead.
Lead image / Provided by TAFEP
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