The Power of Investing in Singapore's Talent Pool through Business and Government Partnerships

Is the future of work already here? Automation, artificial intelligence, IoT and other advanced digital technologies – broadly termed the fourth industrial revolution – have irreversibly changed the way we work, live, and play. With eight of the ten most valuable brands in the world now being technology companies, the digital age is here to stay.

But, what has this seismic shift meant for the future of labour and employment? And, how is Singapore looking to lead? Will machines displace humans as the main source of labour? Are we headed for mass unemployment with people being replaced by software code and automation?

In short, no! The human condition dictates that we are always looking for more and an opportunity to continually evolve. Every new wave of technology has led to the creation of never-before-seen jobs. Social media strategists, digital marketing leads and DevOps Engineers are all job titles we take for granted. At the same time, none of these jobs existed as recently as fifteen years ago. Students entering primary school today will likely end up doing work that we cannot even begin to imagine. The World Economic Forum stated that 75 million current job roles may be displaced by the shift in the division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms. However, they also stated that 133 million new job roles may emerge.

Skills Shortage
There is a great deal of attention on the skills gaps we currently face meaning we may be ill-equipped to meet the demand for these new jobs. For example, organisational consulting firm Korn Ferry foresees a global labour shortage of 85.2 million skilled workers by 2030, resulting in lost revenue opportunities of US$8.452t. In Singapore, the talent shortage could be as high as 1 million workers.

Addressing the Skills Gap
Singapore is leading the way in addressing the existing skills gap with two approaches having shown promising success: the reskilling of our existing workforce and the reshaping of current educational curriculum.

Professional and life-long learning
Reskilling our existing workforce is about promoting a mindset change. Digital technologies tend to rapidly make current tools and skills obsolete. Today’s professionals need to internalise the fact learning must extend beyond formal schooling in order to stay relevant to the demands of the workforce.

Since its launch in 2015, the Singapore government’s SkillsFuture initiative has seen more than 285,000 working adults benefitting from the skills-based courses. These courses are partially funded by the government and go a long way in managing the economy’s transition to a digital-ready workforce.

In addition to the government’s efforts, organisations can also promote skills-based upgrading of their own employees through the implementation of self-service e-learning platforms like LinkedIn Learning and Skillsoft. This approach can help employees with a sense of agency and control over their own learning journeys, helping them understand the importance of independent continuous learning.

Reshaping educational curriculum with public-private partnerships
Businesses need to be more proactive in identifying future skills and working with policymakers to adapt educational programmes. By collaborating with industry partners, academia and civil society to understand the demand and supply for digital skills, businesses can help devise common strategies to reshape educational curriculum and better prepare the next generation for a fully digital workforce.

Numerous initiatives demonstrate the willingness of tech companies to work alongside public sector organisations to train future talent and address the current needs of the business. Recently, Puppet partnered with Republic Polytechnic’s School of Infocomm to foster students’ capabilities in the area of DevOps curriculum. Not only does the school use Puppet’s technology directly to optimise the setup of its learning computer environment, but students also get hands-on experience of the company’s product that is used by overly 40,000 companies today and 75 percent of Fortune 100 companies. There are nearly 600 job openings on LinkedIn that require Puppet Skills in Singapore alone.

With the complexities around technology and managing it for things like compliance, security and stability growing, infrastructure automation and DevOps practices will only increase in the future making this investment a ripe and practical opportunity for the students of Republic Polytechnic.

Through co-creating solutions and curriculum, cooperation between public and private sectors can prove to be a potent model that secures tech talents, enable market access, build digital capabilities and internationalise businesses. Ultimately, the two approaches above are two sides of the same coin. They capture the essence of continuous improvement and guide the way we invest in the education and skills upgrading of workers and workers-to-be.

Singapore has made amazing strides in its ability to adapt and transform to technology needs. However, there is still potential for businesses, investors and the government to continue to work together to accelerate the progress of technology and ensure we build a strong and sufficient talent pipeline to continue cementing our status as a regional digital and innovation hub.