Firms Identified as Anchor or Queen Bee Companies and Benefits Brought to SMEs and Individuals

Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the current number of companies on-boarded as Anchor companies/SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies; (b) what support does the Government provide to these companies; and (c) how have SMEs and individuals benefited from this programme.

To-date, SSG has partnered 221 SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies. These companies are selected based on their industry standing and ability to influence companies operating in their business networks. Examples of SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies include Bosch Rexroth, IBM, Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital and Prudential, for the manufacturing, information and communications technology, community care and financial services sectors.

SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies receive different forms of support, depending on the skills interventions that they deliver to the sector. For example, companies like Bosch and IBM are funded to deliver training of emerging and in-demand skills in their respective sectors. SSG also provides funding support to companies like Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital and Prudential to hire "Skills Managers" to identify skills gaps and formulate skills solutions for other companies in their value chains such as the EagleWings Group to help their workforce pick up new skills and bridge skills gaps under the Prudential SME Skills Accelerator Programme.

Our partnerships with the SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies have expanded opportunities for companies, especially SMEs, to upskill their workforce with emerging skills to support enterprise transformation efforts. Since July 2019, more than 400 companies have benefitted from the skills development programmes delivered by the SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies, of which 93% are SMEs.