Speech on Motion on ‘An Artificial Intelligence with No Jobless Growth’ by Desmond Tan, Deputy Secretary-General, NTUC; and MP for Pasir Ris-Changi GRC on 06 May 2026

Introduction

Mr Deputy Speaker Sir, I begin by declaring my interest as Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC and the Executive Secretary of the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees Union (SISEU), where I am closely involved in supporting our workers, and today I want to continue to support our senior workers and reflect their concerns in the age of AI.

Let me start by sharing about Mdm Foo, a 55-year-old jobseeker who approached NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) for assistance.

1. After leaving her previous job of more than 20 years, she found that the job search process has changed quite dramatically.

    

2. Even resume writing has changed. Resumes used to be written for people; but she found out today that they are often screened by machines first. Job applications also moved to digital portals that were not so intuitive for her to navigate.

    

3. She felt lost and uncertain.

Mdm Foo’s experience is not uncommon among senior workers, and reflects their anxieties about changing work processes.

1. For some, AI presented true opportunities.

    

2. For others, it creates uncertainty and anxiety.

    

3. And for many of our senior workers, their experiences are shaped by three key gaps that we must address collectively.

Access Gap

First, the access gap. While Singapore has made progress in closing the access gap for seniors, smartphone ownership among them still lags behind other age groups.¹

In addition, seniors may have lesser access to AI tools. I saw this first-hand at one of the AI workshop organised by SISEU for about 90 union leaders whose median age was 53.

1. While all of them used smartphones, many were trying AI tools for the first time. Understandably, there was some initial hesitation.

    

2. But with simple, guided use cases, they quickly picked it up and were using AI to generate posters for the union’s Family Day and Membership Campaign, and even banners for birthdays and anniversaries.

    

3. As we ended the session, many leaders shared with me that they enjoyed the session and now they realised it is not so difficult to learn and to use AI tools, and they wished it could be longer.

This encouraged me because it shows that the issue is not a lack of willingness, but rather, a lack of access and, to some extent for some of them, about confidence, which we can overcome by curating and customising access to AI and making time for our seniors to learn and to increase their knowledge.

Skills Gap

Second, skills gap. We see a gap in training participation, where MOM’s 2025 report² found that residents aged 50 to 64 had the lowest training participation rate at 44.5%, compared with about 60% for those who are below 40.

It is easy to tell seniors to upskill and reskill, but in reality, with commitments, bills to pay, and limited time and energy, taking the first step sometimes is not easy. Many have lived through repeated cycles of change and transformation, and may feel fatigued, uncertain, or even question the relevance of more training.

These concerns are real. We must make training more accessible, at a suitable pace, through practical and bite-sized modules. And make AI more relevant to their job skills.  

Opportunity Gap

Third, opportunity gap. Even when senior workers are willing to learn, they may not have the same opportunities to benefit from AI in their actual jobs.

1. OECD’s Employment Outlook 2025 highlights that across OECD countries, opportunities to ‘learn-by-doing’ fall with age, where 62% of adults aged 25 – 29 reported such opportunities, but this falls to 45% among those aged 60 and above.

    

2. In addition, a 2025 Pew Research Centre³ report found that 73% of workers who used AI at work were aged 18 – 49, while only 27% were aged 50 and above.

This is why we need to work with employers to give our seniors the opportunity to use AI tools and reap productivity gains in their jobs.

Senior workers bring valuable experience, and with AI, these strengths can go even further. I have spoken about this, no less than two times in this Chamber. Research from the Stanford Digital Economy Lab⁴ supports this, where it highlighted that senior employment in the US has remained resilient, and may have even grown with the introduction of AI because they see that seniors bring tacit knowledge, experience and soft skills that enabled them to increase productivity with AI. 

To our senior workers, we understand your challenges, and we are with you in this transition. Take the first step with us — start a course, try a tool, or learn from those around you — and you can thrive in the AI economy.

Mr Speaker, the Motion before the House is important:

1. It emphasises that growth must be anchored in fairness, resilience, and opportunity for all, and resolves to equip workers to seize these new opportunities, and that must also apply to our senior workers.

NTUC’s Response

NTUC recognises that long lasting impact is best achieved through a partnership approach, and has taken proactive steps through the AI-Ready SG initiative which focuses on three key areas.

First, training and upskilling workers to address skills and access gaps.

1. To close the skills gap, NTUC LearningHub has developed a comprehensive AI learning pathways with three different levels of proficiencies for learners. Foundational Training to build AI literacy and fluency, Intermediate Training tailored to sectors or job roles; and Advanced Training to those in deep tech and wanting to develop deeper AI specialisation and capabilities.

    

2. I am glad to note that there has been strong interest, where since Feb 2026, more than 4,000 workers have enrolled for LearningHub’s AI courses, 39% of whom are seniors.⁵

    

3. Dr. Neo had suggested certification of competencies. This is something that LearningHub has been doing. For example, it works closely with companies to design AI courses aligned with Government skills frameworks and tailored to the companies’ needs. It also partners industry leads such as AWS and Microsoft to certify learners’ competencies based on industry demands. And we will continue to expand this to more sectors and industries.

    

4. At the same time, under the AI-Ready SG, we are also closing the access gap, by providing union members with subsidies of up to 50 per cent for AI premium subscription tools, through the NTUC Union Training Assistance Programme (UTAP).

    

5. I am happy to let the members know that, in the first of this AI tool subscription, NTUC’s premium subsidy does cover a range of tools including coding and agent-based tools, such as Claude Code, Codex, Manus and others. There are a total of 21 tools. We are offering this as a membership privilege because we are using the existing UTAP funding model catered for our members’ training. But we continue to review this depending on the interest and take-up over time.

    

6. We are also partnering sector agencies, like the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, to develop sector AI training pathways for our union leaders. 

Second, we are supporting firms in business transformation and job redesign through the NTUC Company Training Committee, or CTC. To date, NTUC has formed over 3,800 CTCs, embarked on over 900 business transformation projects, benefitting over 300,000 workers.

Let me share an example from Evergreen Group – a local office and stationary supplier.

1. Through a CTC Grant project with the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers Union (SMMWU), it implemented an AI-powered e-ordering system to automate order processing and improve inventory management. With this new system, manual work, such as order processing, was reduced by about 60%.

    

2. Workers could focus on higher-value tasks such as managing customer relationships and using data to optimise inventory.

    

3. As they became more productive, the company could handle 40% more orders, and provide wage increments for its employees.

    

4. This is what we mean by win-win outcomes – where businesses become more productive, and our workers progress with them.

Third, we are improving job matching with new products and services to help workers access good jobs.

Let me go back to Mdm Foo from the start of my speech.

1. Through close support from her e2i career coach, she gained a deeper understanding of her skills and the new job market.

    

2. Her coach also introduced her to NTUC’s AI Career Coach and e2i’s AI Interviewer, and with support and encouragement, Mdm Foo could confidently use these AI tools to sharpen her resume and practice her interviews before the actual session.

    

3. I am glad to share that Mdm Foo has found a new role, and has gained familiarity with AI in the process.

Mr Deputy Speaker, AI-Ready SG is one example of how we can realise the intent of this Motion:

1. It supports workers to build AI skills, gives them access to tools to apply these skills, and works with businesses to improve productivity and create new opportunities.

    

2. Looking ahead, we welcome companies and partners to come onboard as we scale our efforts and increase our reach to ultimately deliver better support for our businesses and workers.

Tripartism and TJC

Mr Deputy Speaker, these efforts are important, and we are seeing encouraging outcomes.

But the scale of change brought about by AI is significant, with great uncertainty and anxiety among workers.

This is why tripartism, with its proven track record, built over many decades of open communication and trust, is critical to this challenge.

Singapore has navigated major transitions before.

1. In the 1980s, when computers first entered the workplace, workers were concerned that these machines would replace them in roles such as data entry and filing.

    

2. And companies were anxious about costs, skills shortage and disruptions to daily operations.

    

3. But Tripartite Partners leaned forward. The Government invested in infrastructure and skills, including the National Computer Board to drive nationwide adoption of IT. Employers stepped forward to transform their businesses with new technologies and redesigned workflows; and

    

4. The Labour Movement drove skills upgrading en-masse, organised workshops and seminars, preparing workers mentally and practically for change. Because tripartite partners moved together in solidarity, firms became more productive, workers took on better jobs with better pay, and Singapore strengthened its competitiveness.

Mr Speaker, the Tripartite Jobs Council (TJC) will be a key platform to realise our shared aspirations for the AI era as laid out in the Motion:

1. It will build on efforts across Government, employers and Labour Movement,

    

2. and enable partners to scale outreach, accelerate policy implementation and direct resources, so that workers and enterprises can seize opportunities from AI.

The TJC will take a practical and iterative approach.

We may not have all the answers upfront. But we are clear that our deep trust built over decades of cooperation and shared goals, will allow us to achieve our aspiration of inclusive economic progress.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I will now speak in Mandarin, please.

议长先生，

新加坡需要善用AI人工智能，推动经济增长，但更重要的是，经济的增长必须建立在公平、包容、和具有韧性的基础上。

劳资政三方多年合作、彼此信任，让我们遇到挑战也能够同心应对。我们会继续为工友护航，帮助大家在AI时代把握机遇、提升竞争力。

今年2月，全国职工总会就推出了“AI-Ready SG”计划，积极推动工友学习和掌握AI工具，帮助他们跨越认知、技术和机会的差距，做最好的准备，迎接AI时代的经济。

有一句话说得好：“机会是留给有准备的人，成功是留给最坚持的人”。人工智能的时代已经来临，希望大家与职总一起：积极提升技能，学习，和应用人工智能。

Closing

Mr Deputy Speaker, AI is the defining technology of this generation. But we face this challenge with strong foundations built over decades of tripartite cooperation.

To our tripartite partners -- let us continue working closely together to help our firms transform and stay competitive, while supporting our workers to remain productive and maximise opportunities.

To our workers -- we will continue to support you to leverage AI.

And to our senior workers, your experience matters, and it is my firm belief that it will be an advantage in this AI era.

Take that step with us, upskill and learn, including from your younger colleagues, and together, we can close the access gap, narrow the skills gap, and expand opportunities for all.

Because in Singapore, we have always believed that progress must be inclusive – that as we move forward, we move forward together, because every worker matters.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Motion.