Small businesses in Singapore may be eligible for many grants and tax reliefs from the government. That’s done in order to support the growth of locally-founded SMEs, that in turn hire a lot of Singaporeans as employees – with about 70% of Singapore employees are hired by local enterprises.
One of the grants that flies under the radar for Singapore companies is NTUC’s Company Training Committee (CTC) Grant. Managed by NTUC’s Employment & Employability Institute (e2i), the CTC Grant serves to strengthen worker and business outcomes with Enterprise Transformation and Workforce Transformation at its heart.
Here’s what you need to know about the CTC Grant and how Singapore companies can get up to 70% funding to help upgrade their business and workforce.
What Is The CTC Grant?
NTUC’s CTC Grant supports companies that have formed internal Company Training Committees (or CTCs) in order to drive transformation plans that lead to improved worker and business outcomes.
In terms of eligibility, the scope is broad and entities that are legally registered or incorporated in Singapore – including companies, societies, and non-profit organisations – are all welcome to apply. Government bodies, statutory boards, organs of state, and wholly-owned subsidiaries are not eligible though.
The CTC Grant was launched by the government during Budget 2022 and S$100 million was set aside for efforts to help companies implement training and transformation programmes.
Read Also: What Does The Average Business In Singapore Look Like?
How Can Singapore Companies Apply For The CTC Grant?
The first step to applying for a CTC Grant is to actually form a CTC within your company. This can be done by contacting your union or getting in touch with NTUC. Alternatively, companies can visit the Train & Transform site for more information on CTCs and how to set them up.
Next, companies applying for the CTC Grant will have to develop their own transformation projects and then demonstrate how these projects can lead to improved outcomes for both workers and the business.
Finally, applicants can submit their CTC-endorsed transformation project to see if they are eligible for the CTC Grant from NTUC’s e2i. NTUC states that applicants are strongly encouraged to engage NTUC’s e2i on their project applications before actually making any sort of submission.
If you have everything in order, can proceed to apply for the CTC Grant via CorpPass and all applications are done via e2i’s Grant Portal.
How Can Businesses Benefit From The CTC Grant?
Given the CTC Grant exists to help Singapore companies improve the skills of their workforce, there are manifold benefit to the scheme. One of the biggest is that companies who have successfully applied to NTUC’s e2i can have the CTC Grant cover up to 70% of the qualifying cost of projects.
NTUC has stated that as of March 2024, there have been 3,062 workers across 150 companies that stood to benefit from a further wage increase of 5% on average (beyond their annual increment) or from the specific career development plans that stemmed from these transformation projects.
It also added that, as of March 2024, over 2,000 CTCs have been established and that it was on track to increase that number to 2,500 by 2025.
Win-Win Outcomes For Singapore Companies And Workers
The success of the CTC Grant programme so far, with notable public successes like the four projects that ST Engineering Land Systems have implemented, highlight the potential benefits for both employees and firms.
This mutually beneficial transformation programme can help optimise employee incentives – like higher pay – as well as increased productivity. Meanwhile, companies are able to benefit from this increased efficiency from their workforce, meaning all parties can come away better off.
For Singapore companies looking to upskill or retrain their workforce, the CTC Grant offers an ideal avenue to tap into government funding to help the business grow more efficiently while also providing workers with increased knowledge.
Read Also: 5 Government Grants & Subsidies To Know When Starting A Business
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