NTUC Budget 2026 wishlist: Mental health, job security top youth concerns

Around 40 young union leaders and activists gathered at the NTUC Centre on 13 December 2025 to discuss the issues and concerns young workers face on the ground ahead of Budget 2026.

Organised by NTUC Youth, the Labour Movement’s youth wing, the dialogue was one of several that NTUC holds annually. Such dialogues are held to obtain workers’ feedback to inform NTUC's advocacy and strategy for Singapore’s Budget Statement, which will be announced on 12 February 2026.

Young union leaders and youth activists from NTUC Youth and Young PAP had a candid and open conversation with NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Desmond Choo (pictured below, centre) and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and National Development Syed Harun Alhabsyi (pictured below, right).

“Feel free to share [about] the issues that matter to you and the circles of friends around you. What this would do is inform us on what to do next. Tell us whether there’s something that we can do for you,” Mr Choo said.

The annual pre-Budget youth engagement platform covered a wide range of work-related issues, focusing on workplace mental health support, AI and jobs, school-to-work transition, job insecurity, entrepreneurship, and caregiving needs.

Other topics brought up included housing affordability and support for children in large families who exit the education system early.

Mental health at the workplace

Following the passing of the Workplace Fairness Act in November 2025, which protects workers with mental health conditions, workplace mental health emerged as a key topic of discussion.

Mental health disclosures

One union leader said many young workers fear that disclosing mental health struggles could hinder their career progression.

She highlighted the critical need for training supervisors and managers to handle mental health disclosures, and asked what the tripartite partners can do to better equip them for this responsibility.

In an interview with NTUC, Vincent Loke was more direct about how supervisors should respect potential hires.

“One thing I feel that should be included in the Budget next year would be a policy to inform managers and line supervisors that they should not discriminate any employees coming for interview due to their mental health conditions,” he said.

Another participant asked what measures are in place to ensure young workers are supported mentally to cope with constant changes.

In response, Mr Choo said that young unionists should be adequately trained to use the new Workplace Fairness law to create mentally safer spaces. ‎‎He recommended that they take courses at the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute (OTCi) to better handle workplace issues.

Mr Choo added that OTCi is also working with unions to retrain branch officials on the law from 2026 and encouraged participants to attend these courses.

Job insecurity and work prospects

Amid an uncertain global economy, the topics of job insecurity and work prospects sparked lively discussions around the room.

Job opportunities in the age of AI

Some were concerned about AI snatching their jobs and replacing their skills.

One young union leader noted that students are feeling insecure about job prospects and questioned whether it is due to budget constraints or perception issues. ‎‎

Mr Choo responded that young workers should focus on using AI to do better things on top of doing things better.

“For example, can you use the AI tools to discover new healthcare? You could now combine different drugs to treat people. That would create opportunities that we have never seen before and last many generations,” he said.

He also believes that technical, hands-on skills will become more valuable in the future, with plumbers and car mechanics potentially earning more than some managers.

“If you are the one fixing the vehicle, you’re the one getting your hands all grimy, you’re going to be paid a lot more in future because fewer people are prepared to [do so],” he explained.

Mr Choo ‎‎also recommended developing critical thinking skills and collaborative, interdisciplinary work skills that AI cannot replace. ‎

Job search and mentoring

One participant also asked about the continuation of the NTUC Youth EXCEL programme, a complimentary two-day workshop that enhances youths’ job search efforts by building workplace leadership skills and personal branding.

NTUC Youth Executive Secretary Natasha Choy said that the department is working on improving the initiative and welcomes more feedback. Panel moderator and NTUC Youth Chairperson Dominic Yong added that the youth wing will continue developing NTUC’s career mentoring ecosystem with NTUC PME to support youth in shaping their careers.

School-to-work transition

Former NTUC Economic Policy intern Alicia, who researched youth employment challenges during her time in the trade union body, disclosed that young people wanted access to more career guidance, structured internships, and opportunities to gain industry-related skills and knowledge before graduation.

She shared her key takeaway from the session in an interview with NTUC: “I believe that Budget 2026 can help smoothen the school-to-work transition for youth. From today’s dialogue, we can tell that the youth concerns of job security, mental resilience, as well as their skillsets are being heard and acted on.”

When interviewed by NTUC, Justus Toh was more vocal about having quality internships to improve younger workers’ employability.

He said: “I wish that NTUC can create a structured framework of how these internships can grade students based on learning outcomes rather than [their ability] to do very automated tasks.

“We have this thing called the experience paradox, where people are trying to find jobs, but they don’t have that experience. So, I think that this [framework] will help to ensure that young people have the capabilities to find jobs in the future.”

Caregiving support

As many young workers fall into the sandwiched generation, caregiving needs was another hot-button topic.

One youth activist mentioned that young professionals in their late 20s and 30s are struggling with juggling ageing parents’ caregiving needs, personal development, and family responsibilities. He said many have asked for more childcare leave, parental leave, or annual leave.

On flexible work arrangements, he noted that there are guidelines in place and asked if the Government could look into incentivising employers to implement such arrangements.

Singapore entrepreneurship culture

With the rise in popularity of gig work among the young, nurturing local entrepreneurship was also a much-discussed topic.

One participant observed that Singapore lacks globally successful local companies and entrepreneurs compared to other countries. He also asked if the Singapore education system should evolve to propel Singaporeans to the top level of global companies.

Mr Choo said that the best way to nurture entrepreneurship is through overseas exposure, while acknowledging Singapore’s challenges of market size and comfort versus risk trade-offs.

“Are we exposing our people enough? I don’t think we are interacting enough with our regional counterparts. We don’t see those opportunities, and therefore, we think that the market is very small, which is not true,” he said.

On becoming C-suite level executives in global businesses, Mr Choo pointed out that Singaporeans are often reluctant to go overseas to understand international markets, thereby limiting their career advancement.

“If you want to be the CEO of Shopee, it’s not good enough to understand the Singapore market because the big money is in Thailand. You have to spend some time in Thailand, if not [companies] don’t want you,” he explained.

The NTUC Youth Pre-Budget Dialogue is one of many engagement sessions the Labour Movement will hold with various worker groups and union leaders to consolidate their concerns, challenges, and aspirations. These dialogues will inform NTUC’s advocacy for worker issues and shape the policy development in preparation for Budget 2026.