Second national skills report published to help Singaporeans plan their upskilling

SkillsFuture Series will be refreshed to align to report findings

As announced by Minister for Education, Mr Chan Chun Sing, at the SkillsFuture Fellowships and Employer Awards Ceremony, the second edition of the Skills Demand for the Future Economy Report was published today by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG). Similar to the inaugural (2021) report, this second edition aims to share jobs and skills insights with Singaporeans so that they can better plan their skills development journey.  

This year’s edition continues to spotlight the Digital Economy, the Green Economy and the Care Economy. These growth areas remain important as they heavily influence the emergence of new skills demand across many different industry sectors.

In addition, SSG included (a) an analysis of skills needs associated with the increasing adoption of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and processes; (b) an analysis of the different career paths and upskilling options available for mid-career workers; and (c) research findings on the use and development of Critical Core Skills in Singapore workplaces. Insights were derived using machine learning techniques and in-depth market analysis, twinned with validation by sector agencies, industry partners and academia.

Digital, Green and Care Economies

This year’s report provides a deeper understanding of the priority skills associated with these economies. These are skills with high demand growth, and are also highly transferable across different jobs and industries. Readers can better appreciate the priority skills that they already possess, and consider what new priority skills they wish to take up, to raise their career health and versatility. SSG has grouped these priority skills into 18 emerging domains.

In the Green Economy, priority skills with high demand growth and high transferability include Carbon Footprint Management, and Environment and Social Governance.

In the Digital Economy, priority skills with high demand growth and transferability are in Customer Experience Management and Software Design. This is expected, as businesses increasingly rely on the digital platform to reach customers; and as digital products continue to proliferate.

For the Care Economy, SSG found skills such as Human Resource Advisory and Career Coaching to have high demand growth and transferability. These skills reflect a desire by companies to better access and retain talent, and also to better develop their staff.

Jobs and skills in Industry 4.0 implementation

More companies in the manufacturing and related sectors are changing their business models and operations in line with I4.0 transformation. SSG has mapped out 60 priority skills with high demand growth and high transferability, associated with I4.0. There is a fair degree of overlap with priority skills associated with digital and green economies, as digitalisation and sustainability are key themes for I4.0. Individuals can consider upgrading themselves in these skills to thrive in Advanced Manufacturing. Companies looking to implement I4.0 will need to upskill or reskill their workforce, as manufacturing processes become more digitalised, connected and sustainable.

Continuous Learning Journey for Mid–career workers

Mid-career workers, aged 40 to 59, make up half of Singapore’s resident workforce. They have a wealth of working experience accumulated through the years. At the same time, many of them are in job families that are undergoing transformation and job redesign. Skills top-ups can help them retain currency in their existing jobs, or give them the versatility and confidence to take on a new job.

The report charts potential upskilling and career options for mid-career workers, riding on their existing expertise and experience. It is important that employers and training providers recognise the accumulated skills and experiences of these workers, and provide the workplace and learning opportunities that help to complement their existing skills. For examples of how a mid-career worker can move into different roles within the same job family, or make longer term moves into new growth roles, please refer to Annex A.  

Refresh of SkillsFuture Series

SSG will refresh the SkillsFuture Series from 1 Jan 2023, to ensure that Singaporeans have access to courses and training that provide for priority skills identified by the report. SkillsFuture Series courses, previously categorised into eight areas, will be re-organised to support the emerging industry trends and developments.  The series will now focus on delivering training for skills that support the digital, green and care economies (as well as I4.0), and courses will continue to be available at different proficiency levels (basic, intermediate and advanced). For more information on the refreshed SkillsFuture series, please refer to Annex B.

Training providers have already responded to industry trends and are rolling out courses in the various growth economies. For example, our Institutes of Higher Learning have, over the course of this year, actively responded by launching new CET courses in transferable green skills such as Carbon Footprint Management, as well as courses that provide specialised skills training in areas such as Green Facilities Management, Sustainable Engineering, Sustainable Investment Management, and Environmental Sustainability Management. On top of specialised skills training and certification such as the National Electric Vehicle Specialist Safety (NESS) certification, they will continue to ramp up the supply of skills training in areas with high demand growth and high transferability, such as Environment and Social Governance that supports greening efforts across multiple sectors.

Empowering individuals to be more deliberate about upskilling

Mr Tan Kok Yam, Chief Executive of SSG said, “The aim of the Skills Report is to help Singaporeans plan and act on their upskilling. We seek to unpack macro-trends such as digitalisation and sustainability, and translate these into priority skills that the individual can act on. We thank our network of industry experts and public agencies  for enriching the Report. Likewise, we will lean on our key partners to ensure that the Report reaches out to more Singaporeans and is meaningfully utilised.”

The full report can be found at skillsfuture.gov.sg/skillsreport

Download Annex A and Annex B here.

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