Higher salaries, career progression for nearly 10,000 workers with NTUC Company Training Committee Grant

Nearly 10,000 workers from over 500 companies, including PMEs, will see higher salaries and career progression with NTUC Company Training Committee (CTC) Grant projects.

Through the Grant, workers have received an average wage increase of 5 per cent above their annual increment and career development through structured plans and/or skills allowances.

NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng shared this update on 12 September 2025 at a visit to Seletar bus depot, to learn about SBS Transit’s new automated tyre management system.

The public transport operator leveraged a CTC Grant to develop the new system for buses that harnesses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to raise worker productivity and efficiency. It is the first public transport operator to utilise the Grant for a transformation project.

The CTC Grant is one of the key tools that companies like SBS Transit can employ to transform their business and workforce for future needs. The funding supports up to 70 per cent of the development and training costs associated with a project.

The Government provided NTUC with an initial $100 million when the CTC Grant was launched in 2019. Another $200 million was pumped in earlier this year to help more firms accelerate business and workforce transformation.

NTUC a key driver in AI adoption

Singapore’s AI adoption push is gaining momentum to drive business growth. Global financial services firm Morgan Stanley’s recent survey indicates that over 70 per cent of Singapore firms have adopted AI, leading to manpower cost savings, product development, and supply chain efficiencies.

Among the more than 700 approved CTC Grant projects, over 70 incorporate AI in their plans. The increased uptake of firms harnessing AI for CTC projects makes NTUC a key driver in the national AI Strategy 2.0, aimed at deepening the use of technology in transforming the economy.

“The rise of artificial intelligence necessitates and plays a key part in driving transformation,” Mr Ng pointed out.

The Labour Chief pledged NTUC’s commitment to working with companies to adopt AI responsibly, focusing on equipping workers to use the technology instead of replacing them with it.

Mr Ng hopes that workers can partner with NTUC and employers to upgrade and explore the potential of AI.

“You don’t have to do this alone; NTUC will be [by your side] for business transformation and worker upgrade,” he assured.

SBS Transit is on a roll with AI

To date, NTUC has formed over 3,600 CTCs with partner companies, with more than 500 utilising the CTC Grant to upgrade their business and manpower capabilities.

Since 2019, unions and companies have worked through these committees to identify the skills needed for industry changes, implement structured training plans, and upgrade worker capabilities in tackling the jobs of the future.

The partnership between SBS Transit and the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) is a good example. Both partners have been working together on productivity initiatives that have leveraged AI and digitalisation, such has the upcoming automated tyre management system.

“The NTWU believes these advancements will create better job opportunities, raise wages, and enhance workplace safety for our workers,” noted NTWU Executive Secretary Yeo Wan Ling.

The new tyre system aims to upgrade maintenance from a manual process to a digitalised AI process, saving time and boosting overall productivity for over 500 diesel and electric buses each month.

Buses requiring maintenance are driven through a lane installed with cameras, strobe lights, and ground sensors to check tyre pressure, detect damage, and assess tread depth.

According to Rajeshpal Singh, 39, the technical officer supervising the project, the high-tech system has enhanced the efficiency with which technicians maintain bus tyres. It can also perform real-time bus monitoring, detect early signs of component failure, and track critical battery parameters, thereby shifting maintenance work from preventive to condition-based and predictive.

“In the traditional way of checking the tyres, one bus will take 30 to 40 minutes. With this new system, the person who is maintaining the bus just drives it through the machine. And in a matter of minutes, it will ping the data to the portal, and I can access the data and do the planning for the next day,” he explained.

SBS Transit Group Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Sim said the new system also enables workers to take on higher-value jobs and earn more.

“The introduction of such technologies that can be scaled across [our organisation] brings about productivity savings, which we are able to pass on to our staff.

“We think it is fantastic initiative by the NTUC to have this CTC Grant to bring about this transformation and uplift our workers to be more skilled and have higher wages.

“We are grateful to NTUC for the CTC Grant because it enables us to embark on technologies that would otherwise be cost prohibitive,” he explained.

Currently piloted at the transport provider’s Bedok bus depot, the AI tyre maintenance system aims to save 6,000 man-hours annually when rolled out to the Seletar and Ulu Pandan depots by the end of the year. There are also projected cost savings of around $200,000 per year.

For the start, the new system will be rolled out to the Seletar, Ulu Pandan and Bedok bus depots, with plans to implement it across all depots eventually.

Mr Sim said the company expects to save 12,000 man-hours once the system is fully implemented across all its bus depots in Singapore.

With the projected productivity gains from the tyre maintenance initiative, Mr Sim shared that SBS Transit is looking to tap into another CTC Grant project to improve bus underframe maintenance.

The route to better career pathways

Under the CTC Grant, SBS Transit has also introduced a new Diagnostic Expert career scheme for technicians, with structured career progression, a skills roadmap, and enhanced wages.

Over 50 workers are expected to achieve career advancement under the new scheme.

The role of a Diagnostic Expert is to analyse the data provided by the new tyre system to carry out specialised condition-based and predictive maintenance.

Existing maintenance staff can convert to the new career track with the necessary four to five months’ training comprising practical tests, interviews and data analysis.

Former technician and NTWU member Mohammad Idris Mohammad Hassan, 27, is part of the first group of workers who transitioned to become Diagnostic Experts in January 2025.

“Previously, we solely depended on bus captains for any faults that have been reported. Now with the new software, it enables us to track [faults] in real-time.

“We were taught to analyse data to look at potential faults and abnormalities. This will [help us] detect potential faults that are going to happen on the bus. This reduces the time taken to [predict] breakdowns,” he said.

The Diagnostics Expert scheme is also open to diploma graduates and mid-career switchers.

Planning to embark on new process or system to boost competitiveness, but lack the funds? Take up a CTC Grant to support your next productivity project.