MBS first in industry to offer special two-day leave

Full-time staff at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) will soon have access to a new, paid two-day leave incentive to enrol in SkillsFuture courses.

Believed to be the first such initiative in the hospitality industry, the two-day ‘learning leave’ allows its 9,700-strong workforce to take paid leave to attend courses related to language and communication, service excellence and information technology.

The initiative is in line with MBS’ continuous investment in training and developing its diverse workforce, which spans from housekeepers and chefs to meeting planners and museum docents.

Over the last five years, the integrated resort (IR) has spent close to $12.2 million on various training initiatives, ranging from learning sponsorships and e-learning courses, to internal certification programmes such as an in-house wine programme accredited by WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust). This is equivalent to over 3.69 million hours of training across over 150 courses.

“MBS is focused on building a robust pipeline of talent, from new hires to managerial and leadership roles,” Chan Yit Foon, senior vice president of HR at MBS told HRD.

“Empowering our staff through training and skills development is key to their long-term progression within the company. We will continue to look at innovative ways of developing our staff that will allow them to adapt to the evolving needs of our dynamic and fast-paced industry.”