Only 36.7% of Surveyed Singapore Workers Had Recent AI Training as 85.7% Used AI at Work in 2026

85.7% of surveyed workers in Singapore were using AI tools at work in 2026, up from 77.6% in 2025, yet only 36.7% had attended AI-related training in the past 12 months. Those numbers come from the Singapore Digital Economy (SGDE) Report 2026, which IMDA launched on 5 October 2026. So the short answer is that most surveyed workers use AI at work, while AI-related training still reaches a minority. For Metaintro readers, the useful part sits deeper in the study, in why workers skipped training and what the people who did train got out of it, and in the government-backed courses and credits that sit alongside it. Here is that detail.

What Did IMDA's 2026 Report Find About AI at Work?

IMDA published the fourth edition of the SGDE report, with a deep dive into Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption, usage, and capabilities among enterprises and workers. Charts of workers' own answers carry the label Source: MDDI, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, while the employer assessment of workers' AI proficiency carries Source: IMDA.

Workers' AI usage rose from 77.6% in 2025 to 85.7% in 2026, with most using AI daily or weekly and reporting gains in productivity, work quality, and problem-solving. Rounded, that is 86% of workers using AI at work in 2026, up from 78% in 2025.

The training side is the gap. Over two-thirds of surveyed workers saw a need to upskill or reskill in AI, yet only 36.7% had attended AI-related training in the past 12 months. That training could come through either employer-provided or self-sourced channels, so the 36.7% counts both routes together.

Firms moved too. SMEs' AI adoption climbed from 14.5% to 23.4% and non-SMEs' adoption from 62.5% to 70.4% between 2024 and 2025, and the AI adoption rate among all enterprises rose from 14.7% in 2024 to 23.5% in 2025.

How Are Surveyed Workers Actually Using AI?

Content creation was the most common area of use, named by 76.7% of AI-using workers, and at the task level, generating and editing written content was most common (47.0%), followed by document processing and data extraction (38.5%), and desk research and information gathering (36.1%).

Around two-thirds of workers used AI for process automation, more than half used AI to engage with people (53.7%), and a similar proportion used AI for data exploration and analytics (51.7%).

Among AI-using workers, nearly three-quarters named overall productivity improvements (72.9%), while more than two-thirds cited better quality of work (68.9%) and stronger problem-solving ability (68.2%). A majority also reported greater opportunities to undertake higher-value work (61.6%) and to develop new skills (59.7%).

Among AI-using workers who listed time savings as a benefit, around 6 in 10 saved up to one hour a day, while 27.4% saved at least one hour, including 5.2% who saved more than three hours.

Are Workers Using AI Well, by Their Employers' Measure?

On average, AI-adopting firms rated 71.9% of their workers as able to use AI in some capacity in 2025, up from 66.4% in 2024. Yet a sizeable proportion of workers (47.6%) in 2025 were perceived to be using AI only to perform general tasks, rather than for intermediate or complex tasks.

In the same employer assessment, 19.3% applied AI to specific problems within their domain, and 5% could develop or deploy AI for complex work. Intermediate tasks refer to customising or applying AI solutions to solve specific problems within certain domain.

Workers rate their own habits too. Around half of AI-using workers frequently or always fact-checked AI-generated outputs or exercised caution in sharing personal information, while only about a quarter frequently or always used AI to automate tasks or integrate it into their workflows.

Why Did So Many Workers Skip AI Training?

Among workers who had not attended AI-related training, the main barriers included not being sent for training by employers (34.9%), lack of time (34.1%), and not knowing how to choose the right course (26.6%).

Further down the chart of barriers to attending AI-related training, the shares were:

• Lack of financial resources, 17.8%.
• Unsure if employer will allow me to take time off to go for training, 15.1%.
• Do not think that AI-related training is necessary as I can learn on the job, 15.0%.
• Do not know where to find resources for AI-related training, 13.8%.
• Not interested in going for AI-related training, 13.0%.
• I think I am sufficiently skilled in AI, 5.2%.

Lack of interest and confidence in existing skill sit near the bottom of the same barrier chart, well below not being sent or not having time. Lack of financial resources (17.8%) ranked fourth, behind the employer, time and course-choice barriers.

This suggests that closing the training gap may require greater employer support and clearer signposting to suitable training opportunities, according to the Singapore Digital Economy Report 2026.

Did Training Help the Workers Who Took It?

Among workers who attended training, the top benefit was gaining knowledge about AI and its applications (62.8%), followed by greater confidence in using AI tools (47.6%), and being able to apply what they had learned about AI in their work (43.3%).

Among trained workers, 26.7% felt more confident adapting to changes in their jobs and 18.1% felt more confident finding or transitioning to new jobs. IMDA concluded that overall, AI-related training could support both the practical use of AI and workers' confidence in using the technology.

For anyone weighing a course, the top results trained workers named were knowledge about AI and confidence in using AI tools.

What Is TeSA, and What Does AIxTech Offer Tech Workers?

Under the National AI Impact Programme (NAIIP), IMDA will expand the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) to upskill 40,000 tech professionals, including final-year Information and Digital Technologies (IDT) students, over the next three years, in a release dated 8 May 2026. By May 2026, TeSA had helped more than 24,300 locals get placements in tech domains such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, and AI, and more than 440,000 individuals had been upskilled through the programme since its 2016 launch.

One course under that push is AIxTech, which IMDA and AI Singapore (AISG) launched in a release dated 8 May 2026. It is a national programme developed by AI Singapore and supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority. It covers AI skills across the software engineering lifecycle, such as automating software engineering tasks with AI, context and harnessing engineering skills, and implementing agentic systems in multi-agent teams. AIxTech was set to run in two phases, per the 8 May 2026 announcement:

• Phase 1 will comprise 10 self-paced online modules (18 hours) with hands-on coding workflow training, so trainees can upskill without disrupting their work or studies.
• Phase 2 will be in the form of post-course support with S$600 credit for continued AI coding solution access, plus a community platform, meetups and advanced modules.

The course fee is S$180 for tech professionals who are Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents, as set in IMDA's release of 8 May 2026. Self-sponsored individuals can offset course fees for AIxTech using SkillsFuture Credit and the NTUC Union Training Assistance Programme (UTAP).

Final-year IDT students who are Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents can attend AIxTech for free, and on the AIxTech page the student rollout runs in phases by institution, with eligible students getting an email invitation when it opens at their institution.

A person in AIxTech's list of tech professional roles qualifies for the funded rate of S$196.20, including GST, and AIxTech counts 2,000+ learners already building their AI coding skills. The AIxTech list of eligible tech roles includes software engineers, data analysts, product managers and UI/UX designers, so check it before you register.

What Is on Offer for Workers Outside Tech?

For the non-tech workforce, NAIIP will train 100,000 professionals in domain-specific AI skills by 2029, with rollout already underway in sectors such as accountancy and law. The goal to train 100,000 non-tech professionals to be AI bilingual by 2029 was announced at the Committee of Supply (COS) 2026.

In October, IMDA restated its goal for the tech workforce, to upskill 40,000 tech professionals over the next three years, equipping them with advanced AI skills to become full-stack developers with agentic AI capabilities.

IMDA's chief executive Ng Cher Pong said the agency remains committed to investing in continuous learning, equipping workers with practical, domain-specific AI skills.

Singapore’s digital economy continues to demonstrate encouraging growth as both enterprises and workers embrace new solutions in their digital transformation journeys, IMDA Chief Executive Ng Cher Pong said, according to the OpenGov Asia report.

How Can You Pay for an AI Course With SkillsFuture Credit?

Cost was a barrier for 17.8% of workers who had not trained, and SkillsFuture Credit helps Singaporeans offset course fees for eligible courses. There are two tiers of SkillsFuture Credit, a Base Tier for Singapore Citizens aged 25 and above, and a Mid-Career Tier for Singapore Citizens aged 40 and above.

• Opening SkillsFuture Credit. It is $500 and can be used for all courses on MySkillsFuture portal, it has no expiry date and is provided to all Singapore Citizens aged 25 and above, and it can be used on top of existing SkillsFuture course fee subsidies.
• SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career). It is $4,000 for Singapore Citizens aged 40 and above, and it can only be used for selected courses, such as Institute of Higher Learning (IHL) full qualifications and shorter modules that stack to a full qualification, and SkillsFuture Career Transition Programmes.

To use it, log in with Singpass to check your available credit balance, browse eligible courses on the MySkillsFuture portal, and submit your claim online before the course start date. For the 26.6% of untrained workers who did not know how to choose the right course, the Skills and Workforce Development Agency offers a complimentary one-to-one Career & Skills Advisory session to help identify your skills and training needs.

Where Does Hiring Demand for AI Skills Show Up?

The share of tech job postings requiring at least one AI skill rose from 14.0% in 2024 to 16.7% in 2025, and those requiring at least two AI skills rose from 4.9% to 7.6%. The rise showed up particularly in Finance & Insurance, Professional Services, and Manufacturing.

The tech workforce itself grew 3.8% year-on-year to 222,200 in 2025, with faster growth outside the tech industry than within it, and non-Information & Communications (non-I&C) sectors (59% of tech professionals) growing faster (5.3%) than the I&C sector (1.8%). Among the fastest-growing roles are those in AI & Data and Cybersecurity.

The median monthly wage for resident tech workers was S$8,000 in 2025, 60% higher than the overall resident median of S$5,000.

Singapore's digital economy nominal value-added reached S$144.1 billion in 2025 (19.3% of GDP), up from S$136.5 billion (18.8% of GDP) in 2024. Value-added (VA) arising from digitalisation in the non-I&C sectors accounted for around two-thirds of the digital economy, and in 2025, it increased to S$97.0 billion from S$93.6 billion in 2024. The I&C sector's nominal value-added was S$47.1bn in 2025, while in 2025 the sector saw its real VA grow by 6.1% year-on-year, outpacing the overall real GDP growth of 5.0%.

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

Our take is that these findings move the question from whether you use AI to whether you can show you use it well. With 85.7% of surveyed workers using AI tools at work, use alone no longer sets you apart. AI-adopting firms perceived 47.6% of their workers in 2025 as using AI only for general tasks, while the share of tech job postings requiring at least one AI skill rose to 16.7% in 2025, so in our reading the edge is in the deeper work.

The top barrier was not being sent for training by employers (34.9%), so self-sponsored routes are worth knowing. Here is what that looks like.

• Check your balance first. Log in on the MySkillsFuture credit page and see what Base Tier and Mid-Career credit you hold before you pick a course.
• If you are in tech, look at AIxTech. Self-sponsored learners can use SkillsFuture Credit and UTAP to offset the AIxTech fee, and the credit itself is provided to all Singapore Citizens aged 25 and above. Phase 1 was designed as self-paced online modules in IMDA's 8 May 2026 release, which helps if lack of time is your barrier.
• If you are outside tech, follow the sector rollout. Rollout of domain-specific AI skills training is already underway in sectors such as accountancy and law, and for AI skills in marketing, sales and operations roles, read AI Skills for Non-Technical Roles in Marketing, Sales, and Operations.
• Ask your manager directly. Being unsure whether an employer would allow time off was a barrier for 15.1% of untrained workers, and a direct ask settles that question.
• Practise the deeper skills. Only about a quarter of AI-using workers frequently or always used AI to automate tasks or integrate it into their workflows, so automation and workflow use is where to stand out. Then put that work on your resume, using How to Show AI Skills on Your Resume and in Interviews.

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People Also Asked

Q: How many workers in Singapore use AI at work?

A: 85.7% of surveyed workers reported using AI tools at work in 2026, up from 77.6% in 2025, and most of them used such tools daily or weekly.

Q: Why are Singapore workers not taking AI training?

A: Among those who had not attended AI-related training, the main barriers included not being sent for training by employers (34.9%), lack of time (34.1%), and not knowing how to choose the right course (26.6%).

Q: Can I use SkillsFuture Credit for an AI course?

A: Yes, if you are a Singapore Citizen aged 25 or above and the AI course is listed on the MySkillsFuture portal, since the Opening SkillsFuture Credit is provided to all Singapore Citizens aged 25 and above and can be used for all courses on MySkillsFuture portal, and self-sponsored learners can use SkillsFuture Credit to offset AIxTech course fees.

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