The prime minister noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies stopped hiring for full-time jobs but some were prepared to offer traineeships.
“This gave graduates the chance to gain real-world experience. They received an allowance during the training,” he said.
“And they could keep their skills sharp – so that when the economy recovered, they would be in a better position to secure full-time jobs.”
In 2020, the SGUnited Traineeships Programme supported paid training stints of up to six months for recent and soon-to-be graduates of ITE, polytechnics, universities and other educational institutions.
Under this initiative, the government funded 80 per cent of the training allowance while the hosting company funded the remainder.
The programme ended after two years as participation fell along with Singapore’s economic recovery from the pandemic.
Earlier in his speech on Sunday, Mr Wong described jobs as the highest priority of Singapore’s economic strategy. He spoke about stepping up job matching services and bringing more career fairs directly into tertiary institutions, to help fresh graduates connect early with employers.