Now with the economy of Singapore slowly recovering from the slowdown due to the pandemic, the government has decided to shift its focus on growing businesses instead of just sustaining them. The 2021 Singapore Budget has been revealed and many of the business incentives are skewed towards economic recovery. Starting a business in Singapore would be ideal as businesses can benefit from cost savings when adopting new technologies, digitising business processes, hiring new employees, retraining current workers and even international business expansion.

Now that we’ve mentioned some of the benefits of starting a business in Singapore this year, let us take a look at what are some of these incentives in the 2021 Singapore Budget that businesses can choose to gain from.

1) Recruitment incentives

To set up, scale or transform a business would usually require more manpower and hiring the right employees usually takes time and money. To boost the employment rate of locals, the government has rolled out subsidies, platforms and courses to help businesses cope with their recruitment needs.

Job Growth Incentive (JGI)

The Job Growth Incentive helps businesses hire local jobseekers by subsidising the gross monthly income of candidates. The requirements are as follows:

– Subsidise 25% on the first $5,000 of gross monthly salary to local hires of up to 12 months.

– For mature local candidates aged 40 and above, all candidates with disabilities and ex-offenders – businesses will get 50% subsidy on the first $5,000 of gross monthly salaries from September 2020 to February 2021. However, from March 2021 onwards, subsidies are increased to 50% on the first $6,000 of gross monthly salaries for up to 18 months.

Capability Transfer Programme

This incentive will definitely benefit international companies looking at setting up bases in Singapore. This incentive supports businesses by funding them to:

– Bring in specialists from other countries to train their local employees for a period.

– Send local employees overseas training.

– Support local specialists (who have been trained overseas or my foreign specialists) to train local employees.

International companies can then send their specialists into Singapore to train the local talents here and to better integrate the company as a whole – aligning goals and work processes.

Career Trial

Businesses can embark on a short-term trial for local candidates. Salary support is given by the government for businesses offering employment to candidates at the end of the trial. This caters to both full-time and part-time positions with the full-time position requiring a minimum salary of $1,500 and $750 for part-time positions.

2) Reskill and upgrading incentives

Besides just recruiting new jobseekers, businesses can also look to upgrade and re-skill existing employees. There are a number of schemes provided to help subsidise course fees to re-train and upgrade employees in multiple skills from adapting to digitalisation, leadership skills, upgrading existing skills and learning new skills.

There are higher course fees subsidies for SMEs to sponsor their employees for workshops and courses under SSG.

3) Grants to digitalise and transform businesses

Besides just recruitment and retraining of workers, the government also has grant schemes for businesses to adopt new technologies – improving and digitalising traditional processes.

Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)

Businesses can adopt IT solutions, consultation services and purchase equipment to improve business productivity with up to 80% subsidy from the government. The cost saved can be better channeled to improve workers motivation and efficiency. This scheme has been extended till March 2022, giving companies more reasons to start a business in Singapore in 2021.

Skillsfuture for digital workplace

With the implementation of new IT solutions and the digitising of the workplace, some workers may find it hard to adapt and adopt these solutions. Companies can send workers for a two-day course under Skillsfuture to better equip these workers with the confidence and knowledge required.

Data Resilience Bonus

This scheme is to provide businesses with extra support when it comes to digitalising.

– Businesses in the F&B and retail industries qualify for support of up to $5,000 when they adopt PayNow and InvoiceNow. This also extends to the implementation or improvement of e-commerce solutions/processes.

– An additional $5,000 are given to companies that implement data mining and analytics solutions

The benefits highlighted are just some of the schemes and incentives of The Singapore Budget 2021. Unfortunately, some of these benefits are applicable up till 2022 which gives more reason why you should start a business in Singapore in 2021.

Even with all these grants and support, the implementation of certain processes and policies may still be daunting. Working with a HR company like TalentSpot would be ideal to take advantage of the wage support & training schemes provided by the government. With years of experience in HR, Talentspot can not only recruit the right talent for your business but also manage compensation, training, motivation and even the digitalising of your company’s processes.

With the monetary support from the government, choosing the right HR partner to implement these processes ensures maximum productivity and efficiency.