Office workers in Raffles Place on Sep 21, 2026. (File photo: CNA/Mak Jia Kee)

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.

24 Sep 2026, 02:00 by Davina Tham · CNA · Join

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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.

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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 will be able to 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.

WHAT THE WORKGROUP RECOMMENDED

Mr Foo said the workgroup's report is an "important blueprint for how Singapore will achieve growth with opportunity".

One recommendation is for a "people-centred AI transformation for HR" initiative to help businesses use AI effectively and responsibly in HR functions.

This will comprise "starter kits" that package AI solutions with support, including training and funding, for the technology to be implemented in high-impact HR use cases.

IHRP will also work with training partners to introduce more accredited training programmes aligned to 12 new AI fluency "skills badges" identified by the institute.

Additionally, NTUC will develop a playbook to help HR professionals navigate the AI transformation journey. This will be released in the first quarter of 2027.

As businesses move quickly to adopt AI, the workgroup said firms need to consider workforce implications as part of transformation planning, and not only after key decisions have been made.

To this end, SNEF and IHRP will showcase real-world examples of businesses that have successfully aligned operational change with workforce outcomes, such as through job redesign.

They will also develop a practical guide that business advisors can use to help firms consider jobs, skills and workforce implications alongside decisions about technology, processes and business models.

"The question we all grapple with is whether transformation will simply remove tasks and workers, or redesign work so that people can take on new and more valuable ones," said Mr Foo.

"These are business decisions and people decisions at the same time."

Business leaders understand where technology can create value and how operating models must change, while HR leaders understand how jobs, skills and learning pathways must evolve with them – and both must work together from the start, he said.

Another recommendation is to pilot a model connecting SMEs with HR professionals that would give these businesses flexible access to strategic HR expertise tailored to their business needs, without having to hire a full-time senior HR professional.

Under an ongoing six-month pilot, experienced HR leaders are brought into participating SMEs on a part-time, embedded basis. More details on the model will be released through the Alliance for Action on Advancing Career and Employment Services.

The workgroup also recommended establishing the Singapore Opportunity Index as a "national benchmark" for the career opportunities created by employers.

The index, which uses verified government data, enables workers to make more informed career decisions and employers to better evaluate the impact of their workforce strategies, said MOM.

Workers wonder whether their employer will invest in their skills, recognise their hard work and meet their changing needs in different stages of life, said Mr Foo.

The answers to these questions are "not visible from a job title or a salary figure", he said, encouraging workers to look at the indicators in the Singapore Opportunity Index.

Finally, the workgroup recommended a "pinnacle" human capital leadership development programme to nurture HR leaders for the future. This programme will start in 2027 and is designed by the Human Capital Leadership Institute.

Workgroup co-chair NTUC assistant secretary-general Patrick Tay said the recommendations will equip HR professionals to manage workforce transformation that is "people-centred".

"Stronger human capital capabilities can help companies make better workforce decisions, invest in their people, and ultimately create better jobs and work prospects for the Singaporean core, including PMEs.

"By helping workers adapt, upskill and take on new opportunities, we can ensure that Singaporeans continue to benefit from economic growth and technological change," he said.

Fellow co-chair and SNEF council member Benjamin Boh said employers recognise business transformation and workforce transformation must go hand in hand.

"The recommendations provide practical support for companies to strengthen their HR capabilities through certification, better access to HR expertise, and people-centred AI adoption.

"This is especially valuable for employers as they build workforce resilience and prepare for long-term growth," he said.

Co-chair and MOM deputy secretary for workforce Kenny Tan said that the workgroup is committed to implementing the recommendations but cannot do this alone.

"Leaders at all levels of the organisation – business leaders, human resource professionals and people managers – must drive enterprise and workforce transformation together.

"Workers must embrace new ways of doing things, new jobs and new skills. This is how we ensure that Singapore's next chapter of growth will continue to be rooted in its people and for its people."

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