Best SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training (SGUP) Programmes 2021

With Singapore’s economy forecasted to grow by 4 – 6 per cent in 2021, which will put Singapore slightly behind pre-Covid levels, it is no wonder that the government announced in Budget 2021 that they would extend the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package to support workers who are affected by the pandemic. 

The extension also meant that the highly popular SGUnited Skills (SGUS) and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training (SGUP) programmes will continue till March 2022. Jobseekers entering these programmes in the next few months will pick up in-demand skills that will enable them to ride on the expected recovery, when they complete the training 6 to 9 months later – around the end of 2021. 

Additionally, after the first series of roll out, the providers of SGUS/SGUP programmes are more familiar with streamlining their training schedules; new schools have also come on board to give a boost to the training capacity. 

No matter if you are a “freshie” jobseeker, or if you’re considering your options after months of fruitless job search, this is a good time to seek out valuable SGUS/SGUP programmes. Why not take a break, recharge and re-skill, and be well equipped to ride on the recovery when it arrives?

This post will first explain what SGUS and SGUP are, followed by the listing of the “best” SGUP programmes in 3 categories: Value for Money, Most Popular and Least Popular. I will list the SGUS programmes in the same way in another post. Click on the links below to jump straight to the ranking that you’re interested in!

What Are The SGUnited Skills (SGUS) and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training (SGUP) Programmes

The SGUnited Skills (SGUS) and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training (SGUP) programmes are initiatives under the SGUnited umbrella to help mid-career workers switch their careers – careers in industries that are less affected by the downturn and/or are expected to recover strongly as Singapore resumes full connections with the other countries.

SGUS and SGUP are mostly the same, differing only in their objectives and training providers. SGUS focuses on jobs in emerging areas like Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence – mainly job roles that are relatively new to Singapore’s job market. SGUP, on the other hand, focuses on existing jobs that are facing a high labour crunch. 

SGUS trainees have a wider range of options when it comes to gaining industry exposure, compared to SGUP

SGUS programmes are delivered by Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), while SGUP’s by established companies. Therefore, there is a high weightage of “industry attachment” or “project” components in the latter.

One thing to note is that the line is blurring between SGUS and SGUP. There are IHLs collaborating with companies to deliver SGUP programmes, and SGUS are also venturing into current in-demand jobs. It is quite apparent that SSG is trying to control the number of SGUP programmes (15 SGUP vs 221 SGUS); after all, the trainees of SGUP receive higher training allowance than their SGUS peers ($1,500 vs $1,200). 

That being said, SGUS trainees have a wider range of options when it comes to gaining industry exposure. SGUP’s industrial attachments tend to be within the host company, while SGUS, due to their neutrality, offers trainees to work with a variety of companies on industry-based projects or industry attachments. 

Read More: What is updated for SGUP and SGUS under Budget 2021?

SGUnited Skills & SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme Budget 2021

SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training (SGUP)

As mentioned earlier, each SGUP programme is delivered by a host company (sometimes, in collaboration with an IHL, but not with another company). As such, they’re like a company training (hence their name). Therefore, one can look at the 15 SGUP offerings based on your desire to join the hosting company (though the companies reiterated that this is not a guarantee).

Other benefits include a higher monthly training allowance ($1,500), and more weightage on projects and company attachments (for those who learn better with hands-on).

Most Value for Money
SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training (SGUP)

While it is really superficial to make such considerations, we will be denying our Singaporean nature to do such comparisons. When we go shopping during a sale, it is not how low the price is, but how steep the discount, that really attracts a Singaporean’s attention.

In this case, the pre-SSG-subsidised value of the course is compared with the SSG-subsidised cost and the SGUP with the highest ratio is as listed below.

Course Title	Training Provider	Duration (months)	Full Cost	Subsidised Cost	URL
I.am-vitalize (Cybersecurity/Artificial Intelligence Track)	IBM	6	$20,116	$500	https://webibmcourse.mybluemix.net/
SGUP Siemens Advanced Manufacturing (Additive Manufacturing) Learning Programme	Siemens	6	$18,300	$500	https://new.siemens.com/sg/en/products/services/industry/amtc/advancemanufacturing.html
SGUP-CT – Salesforce Career Kickstarter Programme	Nanyang Technological University	6	$18,000	$500	http://pace.ntu.edu.sg/LifelongLearning/sgup/Pages/NTU-SGUnited_Mid-Career_Pathways_Programme.aspx

i.am-vitalize (Cybersecurity/Artificial Intelligence Track)

i.am-vitalize by IBM is further offered under 2 tracks – Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence. Both tracks are equally “value for money”. In fact, in the list that I compiled for 2020, i.am-vitalize by IBM was also the top pick for this category.

Additionally, IBM is a prestigious company. I was enrolled into it (before I found a job) and I could testify that they have an established training facility. They have their own Learning Management System, which was developed in-house and integrated with the IBM’s AI-apps (they are a tech company after all). They had trainers from both in-house and from the industry, thereby providing a variety of industry perspectives.

Read More: Reflections of going through i.am-vitalize by IBM

Embarking On SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme With i.am-vitalize

The downside of this programme? You will end up being familiar with IBM’s suite of AI/Cybersecurity apps, which are just a few of the myriad of such business solutions competing with each other. It remains to be seen if IBM’s apps will emerge and dominate the sector, but participants with high growth mindset will be able to transfer their learning from IBM’s proprietary products to similar products in the market.

SGUP Siemens Advanced Manufacturing (Additive Manufacturing) Learning Programme

Siemens is another prestigious company offering the SGUP programme. They’re focusing on Advanced Manufacturing which, asI had mentioned in my other post, was one of the in-demand skills and areas that has seen steady growth in the past few years, as Singapore transits from low-end to high value add manufacturing.

Siemens has been in Singapore since 1908 and is a technology powerhouse like IBM. Therefore, their training will be highly attuned to Singapore and the region, which will be useful for participants after graduating from the Siemens Advanced Manufacturing (Additive Manufacturing) Learning Programme. 

The only possible downside is that the training venue is all the way in their office in Tuas. For those living in the east, spending 3 hours on daily commute is a mental drain in the long run – which won’t help for one’s learning or working capabilities.

SGUP-CT – Salesforce Career Kickstarter Programme

The SGUP-CT – Salesforce Career Kickstarter Programme is one of the few SGUPs that was developed in collaboration with an IHL – Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Salesforce in itself is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software that has high penetration in businesses, so being well-versed in it will open one’s opportunities in a variety of sectors.

NTU is also a leading institution in engineering and technology, which makes this collaboration a highly desirable one. 

Long time readers will know that I rarely recommend local universities for adult education courses. While they are very prestigious names to put onto our resumes, their training tends to be too academic and detached from industrial practices. This is more so as NTU is a research university.

The modules looked like they are proprietary to Salesforce, and given their strong industry standing, I wonder why they chose to collaborate with NTU?

Most Popular
SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training (SGUP)

Now that we are done with the superficial comparison, here is subscribing to (Singapore’s) conventional wisdom that “if there’s a queue, there must be something good”. 

The list of SGUP courses that are most viewed on SkillsFuture Singapore’s training portal can be found below. However, it is worth noting that several factors, other than a course’s intrinsic value, contributes to the high number of views. For example, a company could have been good at advertising its course, or that the course has been around long enough to accrue the views. 

Course Title	Training Provider	Duration (months)	URL
I.am-vitalize (Artificial Intelligence Track)	IBM	6	https://webibmcourse.mybluemix.net/
SGUnited Programme for Business-Ready HR Professionals	Korn Ferry	6	https://kfacademy.sg/index.php/home/index
SGUP Shopee GoSchool	Ngee Ann Polytechnic	8	https://www.goschool.sg/experiencedprofessionals

i.am-vitalize (Artificial Intelligence Track)

i.am-vitalize by IBM still topped this ranking, but it was the AI track that took the cake. It reflected Singaporeans’ acceptance that AI will be one of the high growth sectors in Singapore, but also the sad fact that the more important Cybersecurity was held in lower regard by Singaporeans. So low, it was  not even in the top 3 list. 

Yes, like all properties, software/apps/sites need to be protected, and Cybersecurity professionals are severely lacking in Singapore. Therefore, I will highly recommend jobseekers consider Cybersecurity instead, as it means there will be more opportunities for graduates in the near future. 

SGUnited Programme for Business-Ready HR Professionals

Given that the SGUP and SGUS programmes are dominated by tech training, I’m surprised that the SGUnited Programme for Business-Ready HR Professionals by Korn Ferry, an established consulting and HR firm, did not take the first spot in terms of views.

My concern is that HR is not seen as an essential profession by older Singaporeans – the target demographic of SGUP and owners of SMEs. HR 

However, every business that seriously wants to grow will need a trained HR professional, and this is where this SGUP programme comes into play. The modules cover all the aspects for a traditional HR role. “Traditional”, because I observed that they excluded the use of technology in HR processes, which have become a prominent, if not the backbone, of many HR departments. 

I mean, it’s not just about knowing how to post job offerings on LinkedIn and Indeed, but also on understanding how the technology works to filter the “best” candidates, so that one can know how to identify false negatives (people who have little quality experience, but know how to stuff keywords in their resumes to beat the Applicant Tracking System). It was also about understanding data analytics, so that one can set better measurements of an employee’s performance and predict their contributions to the company, or work out the best team to put together for a project. 

These technological aspects are sadly not found in the course lineup of this programme.

That being said, the SGUnited Programme for Business-Ready HR Professionals by Korn Ferry is a rare gem in the SGUP programmes filled with tech-based training. I believe the sign up rate will be very high for it!

SGUP Shopee GoSchool

This is also another SGUP that is a collaboration with an IHL – Ngee Ann Polytechnic. It is basically a programming-based training and graduates can take on developer roles at prominent companies like Shoppee and FoodPanda. Considering that back end developer roles are also in high demand, this is another training that is worth taking up.

There are a few red herrings, though. From the name of the programme, one would be forgiven to think this training would be delivered by a training academy in Shoppee. However, the “school” is actually “GoSchool”, which is a training provider for the programming language “Go (Golang)”. I personally have reservations about products that have ambiguous names and do not reflect the contents accurately. 

However, one gets to go on a 4 month “apprenticeship” with Shoppee, FoodPanda and other companies that use Go language and employ Go developers. And these are reputable companies by local standards!

Least Popular
SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training (SGUP)

Using reverse psychology, the SGUP courses that are the least viewed on SSG’s training portal would have less take up rates, which in turn means that participants will have less competition upon graduation.

“Will these courses be good for my career then?” You may ask.

SSG would not have approved the courses if they weren’t training participants for jobs that require talents, so we can be assured that job opportunities are abundant for people who take up these courses.

In fact, for these SGUP courses, they most likely had less views because they were launched later (in Dec 2020) than the others (mostly in Sep 2020).

Course Title	Training Provider	Duration (months)	URL
SGUP PBA Robotics Software for Automation	PBA Technology Limited	6	http://raceacademy.com.sg/sct/
SGUP PBA Robotics Autonomous Mobile Robotics	PBA Technology Limited	6	http://raceacademy.com.sg/sct/
SGUP PBA Robotics Factory 4.0 & Product Design	PBA Technology Limited	6	http://raceacademy.com.sg/sct/

Interestingly, all of these courses were from PBA Technology. Therefore, my best guess was that their marketing had not yet gained traction when I did my research on SSG’s training portal. While PBA Group, the parent company of RACE Academy, may not be a familiar name, they are one of the 72 sponsoring organisations of MOE’s undergraduate scholarships. This shows the length that they go to in developing talents for Singapore.

The 3 programmes in the list are all targeting sectors that are in the emerging areas, which says a lot about the career potential for these courses. 

Unfortunately, there is limited information online about RACE Academy, which made it difficult to assess its training proficiency. This lack of information perhaps contributed to the low views on SSG’s website. That being said, I managed to find out that RACE Academy had several other programmes, like the Professional Conversion Programme with Workforce Singapore. These prior collaborations with both SSG and WSG speaks a lot about their credibility.

Parting Words

With just 15 SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training (SGUP) programmes offered as of March 2021, ranking them in “Most Value for Money”, “Most Popular” and “Least Popular” do seem to be slightly too much of an overkill. The very first SGUP, i.am-vitalize by IBM, was featured in 2 rankings.

However, as these programmes relied on reputable companies that have established inhouse training in place before they can offer training of at least 6 months, it is really amazing that SSG managed to pull off such a feat!

I have constantly repeated the government’s “mantra” that if we find ourselves in a situation where we’re out of jobs, we should consider switching into a career in one of the areas where the government is investing a lot of resources to develop the industry. Other than the Infocomm sector, Advanced Manufacturing is one sector that’s worth considering. For Advanced Manufacturing, PBA’s RACE Academy and Siemens are up there with their SGUP offering.

For those who think they’re not technically inclined, they can consider the SGUP offered in collaboration with Salesforce. Korn Ferry is also offering a totally non-technical SGUP to develop HR professionals.

Lastly, there’s the SGUP for the programming language that is being used by local tech stalwarts like Shoppee.

Despite its limited offerings, the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training (SGUP) programmes still offer a varied range of training from the highly technical to those that require one to be good in soft skills. The next round of registration is expected to open when the FY opens next week. This will mean participants will graduate just in time when Singapore’s economy is expected to turn around – when more jobs are on offer.

Therefore, it will be good to start researching on these SGUP programmes now!

If you find this post useful, do Like and Share in on your social media. If you’re interested to know what SGUnited Skills (SGUS) programmes are in store for you in 2021, do also check out the 2nd part of this SGUnited programmes series:

Best SGUnited Skills (SGUS) Programmes 2021

Additionally, up your job search game by reviewing and preparing your Skills Passport (open to all Singaporeans and PRs)!

Till then, stay curious and resilient!