SINGAPORE: A new council initiated by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) will bring together tripartite partners to better support workers and businesses navigating the impact of artificial intelligence.
The formation of the Tripartite Jobs Council was jointly announced by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), NTUC and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) on Thursday (Apr 30), ahead of the labour movement’s May Day rally.
“The Tripartite Jobs Council will scale outreach, accelerate policy implementation, and better direct resources to where they are needed most, to strengthen AI readiness for workers across the jobs ecosystem,” NTUC chief Ng Chee Meng and NTUC president K Thanaletchimi said in their May Day message.
On Wednesday, Mr Ng said during a media briefing that the new council will support the national AI missions and the National AI Council, which were announced in this year’s Budget.
He said the formation of the council demonstrates tripartite commitment to strengthen job security in the age of AI, support business transformation for better jobs, and uplift workers through training and job-matching.
“AI is changing the way we work, and it is critical that our workers are not left behind,” said Mr Ng.
“The Tripartite Jobs Council can bring together and scale tripartite capabilities under one roof as we take collective action to stand with workers of all collars, especially PMEs and youths,” he said, referring to professionals, managers and executives.
Manpower Minister Tan See Leng highlighted three areas the council will focus on: supporting businesses to adopt AI in a way that benefits growth, jobs and workers; providing broad-based and sectoral AI training for workers; and providing targeted transition support for at-risk workers.
“We will lead a transformation that is inclusive, forward-thinking, nimble, pragmatic and also practical in action,” he said.
He pointed to the roughly 1,600 AI courses that have been curated under SkillsFuture, and the government’s six months of free access to premium AI tools for Singaporeans on selected courses.
Dr Tan said the idea was to make AI literacy “as pervasive as possible” in the workforce and help workers to evaluate their level of readiness, before they hone their skills to become fluent in the use of AI.
“It doesn’t even have to be tied to work, but to go on these courses to first familiarise, and then just to use it like a language,” he said.
He also said there was room for the tripartite partners to reach out to businesses on using AI. He cited a survey of 2,560 companies in the first quarter of 2026, which found that about 70 per cent of them had not adopted AI.
SNEF president Tan Hee Teck said employers recognise AI’s potential to improve productivity, drive innovation and maintain competitiveness.
“But many firms, especially SMEs, face very practical challenges, such as costs of adoption, skills gap and lack of in-house expertise,” he said.
According to official data, AI adoption among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) tripled to 14.5 per cent in 2024, but still lagged behind the 62.5 per cent of larger companies that have adopted AI.
“If this trend continues, the divide will widen, not just between SMEs and larger firms, but between workers as well,” said Mr Tan.
In the first quarter of 2026, SNEF engaged more than 420 companies to help diagnose their business needs, redesign jobs and workflows, and integrate AI into their processes.
Calling the council’s formation timely, Mr Tan said: “We need both speed and alignment to help employers seize new opportunities arising from AI while building a workforce that is AI-ready.”
More details on its composition and plans will be announced in the coming months.