It’s no secret that Singapore is a technology haven. So, it’s also no shock the biggest factor determining job location decisions in the information and communication technologies industry is talent availability, followed by labor cost and geographic concentration. Access to skilled talent is what fuels the industry.
According to “The Future of Jobs Report 2018,” more than half the companies surveyed are adopting the hottest dozen technologies:
- User and entity big data analytics (92%)
- Internet of things (82%)
- App- and web-enabled markets (81%)
- Machine learning (78%)
- Cloud computing (73%)
- Digital trade (63%)
- Augmented and virtual reality (62%)
- Encryption (62%)
- Wearable electronics (58%)
- Distributed ledger (blockchain) (54%)
- New materials (52%)
As you would assume, there are technology-enabled emerging job roles in the Singapore job market, including:
- Software and applications developers and analysts
- Data analysts and scientists
- Database and network professionals
The non-tech emerging roles in the Singapore job market are managerial or other skilled professions and include:
- Sales and marketing professionals
- Managing directors and chief executives
- Human resources specialists
- General and operations managers
- Sales representative, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Financial and investment advisors
- Financial analysts
Emerging skills for those seeking work in Singapore align with the emerging roles in that they are either managerial skills or technology, such as:
- Analytical thinking and innovation
- Active learning and learning strategies
- Creativity, originality and initiative
- Technology design and programming
- Critical thinking and analysis
- Complex problem-solving
- Leadership and social influence
- Emotional intelligence
- Reasoning, problem-solving and ideation
- Systems analysis and evaluation
Employers are approaching these shifting skills needs as permanent, as 86% of companies surveyed reported it likely they will look to automate the work, 85% will hire new permanent staff with skills relevant to new technologies, 77% will retrain existing employees and 71% will expect existing employees to pick up on skills on the job.
More than half of the Singapore workforce will need reskilling, with requirements ranging from less than a month (11%) to over a year (10%). Internal departments (49%) will do the majority of training, followed by private training providers (27%) and private educational institutions (21%).
