Singtel renews workforce training pact to strengthen AI skills across organisation

The Singtel Group has reaffirmed its commitment to workforce transformation with the renewal of its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Company Training Committee (CTC) with the Union of Telecoms Employees of Singapore (UTES). The move underscores the telco giant’s strategic focus on equipping employees with critical AI skills to drive business growth and enhance customer experiences.

The MOU was signed during the launch of Singtel’s annual BIG Learning Fiesta, a month-long programme featuring talks and workshops designed to support employees’ professional and personal development.

Building on previous initiatives, including a S$45 million investment in 2019 under the Accelerate, Co-create, Transform (ACT) framework, the renewed MOU aims to deepen AI, emerging technology, sustainability, and power skills across the workforce. It also promotes a skills-first approach, enabling employees to co-create their own learning pathways and transform roles to ensure readiness for future demands.

Singtel has previously ramped up its training efforts with a sustained S$20 million annual investment announced in 2022 and the launch of Singtel 8George, a learning academy open to employees at all levels.

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The renewed pact complements ongoing efforts to embed AI across the organisation. To date, around 13,000 employees in Singapore—representing 95% of the workforce—have completed foundational AI training in areas such as generative AI, data analytics, and response AI use. Singtel aims for all Singapore-based employees to receive AI training, with 3,000 designated as AI practitioners as 300 as AI specialists, aligning with Singapore’s National AI Strategy to cultivate 15,000 AI practitioners nationwide.

Yuen Kuan Moon, Group CEO of Singtel, said, “AI is transforming the way we live and work, and even redefining what jobs will look like in the future. That’s why we’re moving just as fast to prepare our people for this change. This MOU reflects our unwavering commitment to helping everyone at Singtel to learn, grow and thrive in an age of accelerated change.”

Singtel’s AI strategy spans adoption, development, and enabling capabilities across its connectivity, digital infrastructure, and digital services businesses. This includes AI-related career paths within the group, such as data centre roles at Nxera, which recently hosted its inaugural Sustainable AI Data Centre Career Day in collaboration with industry partners.