By Cassandra Chew

FEWER workers are signing up for training each month, a slowdown analysts suggest could be partly due to employers keeping them at the workplace in anticipation of increased orders as the economy recovers.

Latest official figures show that 11,000 had signed up last month for government-sponsored courses under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience, or Spur.

This take-up number is about half of the 21,000 in September. The pace has been slowing following signs of a recovery. In June, it was 35,000; in July, 30,000; and August, 23,000.

However, the total number of workers taking up Spur courses since they were introduced in December last year continues to rise, hitting 244,000 last month.

But training seems a low priority for small enterprises.

A Manpower Ministry survey released yesterday shows that 57 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) offered structured training last year, a drop from 66 per cent in 2006.

The finding, said Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for Manpower as well as Trade and Industry, underscores the need to support SMEs in upgrading their workforce.

Employers also need to be educated on the benefits of training, he added, as he highlighted two findings in the survey: Eight in 10 employers said that after training, productivity rose. And seven in 10 say customer satisfaction improved.

Mr Lee was speaking yesterday at the opening of a continuing education and training centre in Clarke Quay for the media industry. The centre is a collaboration between the Singapore Media Academy and the Workforce Development Agency.

His call for more to be done to train workers follows similar observations made last month by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and labour chief Lim Swee Say at a labour movement conference.

The declining interest in Spur courses worries PM Lee, who felt that people - thinking the worst is over - do not see the need to strive so hard to improve themselves.

But the slower take-up rate for Spur courses could be due to seasonal changes, suggested Singapore Manufacturers' Federation president Renny Yeo.

A company enjoying strong sales or orders in the third and fourth quarter would train its workers in, say, the first quarter.

He also noted that SMEs tend to have a lean workforce, making it difficult to replace workers on training.

'A small company can't send a person on training, because things could come to a standstill,' he said.

Labour economist Shandre Thangavelu feels that SMEs are reluctant to send workers for training because with high turnover, 'they may end up working for someone else'.

Mr Ang Hin Kee, chief executive of NTUC's training institute e2i, said the lack of familiarity with Spur, as well as the cost and time involved in training, are deterrents as well.

Urging employers to press on with training, Mr Lee said: 'Employers must look long term, upgrade workers' skills to up productivity as well as the overall quality of the industry and workforce.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.