Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information on Tuesday announced a pilot program to help workers aged 40 and above switch industries to the tech sector. The TechSkills Accelerator Mid-Career Advance program, administered the Infocomm Media Development Authority, will attempt to simultaneously address two pain points in the city-state’s workforce.

Firstly, there is the issue of mature mid-career professionals, who are considered a particularly vulnerable group in the transition to Industry 4.0. A combination of ageism on employers’ part, and fast-obsolescing skills on workers’ part, is squeezing workers aged 40 and above: statistics from the Ministry of Manpower show that nearly three-fourths of retrenchments in the third quarter of last year involved this group.

Secondly, there is the perennial shortage of talent in the engineering and IT sectors; the shortage in IT is so severe that fresh graduates are reportedly being offered starting salaries of S$4,500, while engineering firms have been complaining for years that they have difficulty attracting and retaining people.

The new program will put these two problems together. 500 mid-career workers will be offered tech and engineering jobs in 10 companies including major players such as ST Engineering, Singapore Airlines, and DBS Bank. Their monthly stipends, training fees, cost of living allowances and even some expenses for overseas training attachments will be funded by the government. In exchange, they must commit to completing the full program, and the companies must also commit to retain each worker for a minimum of 24 months.

Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran said in a parliamentary speech on Tuesday that the program was intended to reduce costs for employers and at the same time lower the barriers for workers. “Our aim is to lessen the friction that gets in the way of mature workers being able to benefit from opportunities created in the tech sector,” he said.

The Ministry of Communications and Information said that over the next two to three years, an additional 2,000 mature workers are expected to benefit from the program.