SMEs give 14% rating to Budget 2026 workforce measures

This is in contrast to the 43% from large firms.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) gave lower adequacy ratings—only at 14%—than large companies for Singapore Budget 2026 measures, according to a Singapore Business Federation report.

The biggest gap was in support for hiring, developing, and retaining the local workforce, which 43% of large firms rated as adequate.

Measures for artificial intelligence adoption and deployment received the highest approval, with 87% from large companies and 70% from SMEs.

Both groups rated measures to address business costs at 39%, the report said.

Large enterprises reported higher satisfaction with internationalisation and trade resilience at 65%, versus 43% amongst SMEs.

Financing and capital access measures were deemed adequate by 30% of large firms and 22% of SMEs, whilst support for senior worker hiring and training received 35% from large companies and 17% from SMEs.

Corporate volunteering support was rated adequate by 22% of large firms and 10% of SMEs, as decarbonisation measures scored lowest, with only 9% of large firms and 4% of SMEs rating them adequate.

Four percent of large enterprises cited other measures, whilst no SMEs selected this category.