Larger firms must have certified HR staff by 2028; tripartite report urges 'people-centred AI transformation'
As technology makes workforce decisions more complex, the foundation of trust that workers have towards HR matters more, says Minister of State for Manpower Foo Cexiang.
Larger firms must have certified HR staff by 2028; tripartite report urges 'people-centred AI transformation'
SINGAPORE: Firms with more than 200 employees will soon be required to have certified human resource (HR) personnel, while companies will receive dedicated resources to adopt artificial intelligence in HR functions without leaving their employees behind.
From Jul 1, 2028, all organisations with more than 200 workers must employ at least one HR professional certified at the IHRP-Certified Professional level or higher.
The Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP) is a professional body established by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).
The move announced by the tripartite partners on Thursday (Sep 24) is intended to professionalise the HR sector and ready firms for incoming workplace legislative updates, including the Workplace Fairness Act that is slated to take effect in end-2027.
Singapore has around 2,000 firms with more than 200 employees, employing more than 45 per cent of the total workforce, said MOM. More than 900 of these firms already have at least one IHRP-certified HR professional.
No such certification requirements are currently in place. The requirement builds on a similar recommendation made in 2020 by an NTUC-SNEF task force for professionals, managers and executives (PMEs).
It will give workers greater assurance that decisions affecting their careers are guided by recognised professional and ethical standards, Minister of State for Manpower Foo Cexiang said.
"As technology makes workforce decisions more complex, this foundation of trust matters much more," he said in an opening address at the IHRP People Behind People Forum.
The requirement is expected to grow Singapore's pool of certified HR professionals from 9,000 to around 18,000, or 40 per cent of the HR workforce, by 2030.
To help companies meet the requirement, the government will provide an additional S$100 subsidy for IHRP certification from Oct 1, 2026 to Jun 30, 2028. Firms can also use the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit to offset the remaining fees.
This was among several recommendations made by the Tripartite Workgroup on Human Capital Capability Development in a report released on Thursday.
Ensuring that workers are not an afterthought as businesses transform and adopt artificial intelligence is a key thrust of the recommendations.
Other recommendations aim to bring HR expertise within reach of more small- and medium-sized enterprises that may not have in-house capabilities, and help workers make more informed career decisions.
The government has accepted all the recommendations, said MOM.
Source: CNA