Technology, talent and trust are redefining workplaces: IWG

2026 will see businesses doubling down their focus on their people. As not only their biggest asset, but also one of their greatest investments - companies are ensuring that their teams are being offered the wellbeing, training, development and new technology-driven learning opportunities that they need to thrive, said the International Workplace Group (IWG).

With companies increasingly prioritising their employees, they are also recognising that productivity and engagement are driven by how, when, and with whom they collaborate rather than solely where they work.

Organisations of all sizes are embracing flexible and hybrid working models to attract and retain the best talent. Recent technological advancements will further accelerate this shift, enabling smarter collaboration and more dynamic ways of working as businesses invest in data-driven workplace design and AI-powered personalised experiences. Increasingly, career pathways will be defined by skills rather than traditional degrees, and personalised human-AI collaboration will become an increasingly valuable skill for business success.

In 2026, the attention will now turn from where work happens to focus on a company’s profitability, productivity, and the wellbeing of their teams. Businesses will invest in flexible workspace memberships, allowing employees to work closer to home where they will be most productive, avoiding costly, unnecessary commutes. For most, this will mean working from suburban commuter hubs, small towns or emerging 15-minute cities, with work becoming more local, more personal and more intelligent than ever before.   

IWG's 2026 global predictions include: 

AI in the daily workflow

In 2026, hybrid teams will more regularly integrate AI copilots into their daily operations. These systems will significantly reduce the need for simple tasks such as admin, knowledge retrieval, and scheduling. Employees will find themselves with more time for creative work, able to tackle complex problem-solving tasks, and develop meaningful relationships. Moreover, this transformation will enable individuals to better manage their work-life balance, ultimately leading to increased productivity and job satisfaction.

Recognising this profound shift, Singapore is taking decisive action to secure its future as a leading AI hub and ensure its workforce is AI-ready, IWG said, pointing out that under the refreshed National AI Strategy 2.0, the government has earmarked over S$1 B for AI development and deployment over the next five years. 

Speaking at Singapore FinTech Festival 2025, Singapore's Deputy PM Gan Kim Yong reinforced the importance of upskilling in AI, urging employers to treat training as a form of investment in their workforce, and for Singapore workers to proactively seek out training so that they are “able to adapt, evolve together with the evolution of jobs.”

This proliferation of AI copilots within the workplace is being accelerated by a new wave of intergenerational collaboration. Research from IWG has revealed that 62% of Gen Z employees are already coaching older colleagues on how to use AI to boost productivity and efficiency. In turn, 77% of Directors and Senior Directors have said this has boosted productivity levels, while 80% said it unlocked new business opportunities. 

Capitalising on this trend, employers will increasingly use AI and workplace analytics to create “personalised hybrid plans” for each employee, including optimised schedules, ideal collaboration days, and preferred office or coworking locations. 

Reversing a S$73.6B productivity loss 

Unlike “quiet quitting”, where employees deliberately do the bare minimum, “quiet cracking”describes something subtler: employees who are still performing, but feel mentally and emotionally checked out, resulting in burnout, stalled progression, and a lack of purpose.

In Singapore, the related concept of “job hugging,” where employees stay in their roles despite dissatisfaction, has gained attention. Annual resignation rates hit a historic low of 1.3% in 2024, despite low employee engagement, IWG said. The country ranks second-lowest across Southeast Asia for employee engagement, with 61% of employees reporting burnout and rising stress levels. Experts estimate this disengagement is costing the nation S$73.6 B annually in productivity loss, putting Singapore’s status as a high-performance hub at risk.

With 57% of workers saying they’re more likely to disengage when they feel undervalued or micromanaged, companies will put more emphasis on employee wellbeing and flexible work options to remain competitive, IWG said. As wellbeing becomes a bigger focus, companies are also expected to move past traditional perks and start using new “well-tech” tools - like stress-tracking wearables, AI mental health reminders, and wellness challenges that gamify healthy habits and make them more engaging.

Fractional C-suites

As they navigate economic uncertainty, more companies are turning to fractional executives, opting for part-time or contract-based C-suite talent who bring in laser-focused expertise without the cost of full-time appointments.

With nearly nine in 10 (87%) CEOs and CFOs concerned about the impact of ongoing macroeconomic instability and two thirds (67%) already reducing operating costs, businesses are looking for smarter leadership models. This flexibility allows companies to secure world-class strategic insight when needed, while enabling experienced professionals to work across multiple organisations.  

The concept is only beginning to gain traction in Asia. Organisational consulting firm Korn Ferry reported six times more requests from Singapore-based firms seeking fractional leaders in 2025 compared with last year. This trend is set to accelerate with increased support for Singapore organisations exploring solutions such as fractional work. 

For example, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore is developing a fractional talent model to help SMEs engage senior professionals on a part-time or project basis – a solution which it hopes will address SME’s challenge of attracting and retaining skilled leadership.  

Rising Gen Z workforce

Gen Zs account for nearly a third of the labour force and are projected to be the largest generation in the workplace by 2035. They come with clear expectations that go beyond pay, prioritising wellness, mental health, flexible hours and meaningful work that aligns with their core values, IWG said. 

As the global population ages, retirements accelerate and talent gaps widen, business leaders must understand and respond to these shifting priorities to remain competitive. Companies that embrace flexibility, autonomy, and meaningful work will attract and retain the next generation of leaders; those that fail to do so risk falling behind, IWG said.  

Multi-office work

Companies of all sizes are moving away from loosely-defined hybrid policies toward more structured, multi-location models, IWG forecasted. Employees are increasingly empowered to work from more convenient places closer to home. Instead of a traditional Return to the Office, the shift is now toward a Return to Several Offices. 

Microsoft recently announced that by 2026, many of its US employees will need to work from their nearest Microsoft office at least three days per week – a policy expected to be implemented across its international offices, including Singapore, IWG noted. Elsewhere, companies are enabling staff to work across a network of coworking or flexible workspace locations.

Skills stacking

Hybrid workers will stack “micro-certifications” - bite-sized, skill-focused credentials - instead of relying on traditional degrees or annual performance reviews. Employers will support this by funding on-demand learning platforms, creating more agile talent pools. This trend will change internal mobility, with skills becoming more portable and accessible.  

Fifteen-minute cities

The 15-minute city concept – where everything from work to leisure is accessible within a short walk or cycle – is entering a new phase in 2026. Until recently, this had been a story of adaptation: retrofitting existing neighbourhoods to bring work, living, and recreation closer together. In 2026, 15-minute cities will be taking an entirely new form, built from the ground up and designed to encourage connectivity, sustainability and community.

According to IWG, Singapore’s URA Draft Master Plan 2025 outlines a future built around self-contained neighbourhoods, with upcoming housing areas, parks, community hubs and local centres designed to support work-live-play needs within short distances. These developments reflect the broader move toward compact, connected urban districts characteristic of 15-minute cities.

Hybrid work is making these urban ecosystems viable, as professionals choose to live and work locally while businesses decentralise their footprints to be closer to where people are.

Hospitality-led environments

The workplace will increasingly look and feel like a boutique hotel, IWG believes. "In 2026, expect concierge-style services, curated food and beverage options, and sensory-led design that elevates comfort and wellbeing," the company predicted.

IWG’s March 2025 partnership with residential design brand YOO exemplifies this shift: by combining design-led hospitality expertise with IWG’s flexible workspace network, these new spaces will blend work, social connection and wellbeing, transforming the office into a lifestyle experience.  

Sensory-led design prioritises wellbeing with the use of lighting, texture and similar design characteristics. 

On-demand offices

Day offices are set to become a key part of the landscape, providing a professional and productive office space whenever and wherever it is needed. Whether employees are seeking quiet, focus rooms or collaboration spaces for ad-hoc team days, these “on-demand” options eliminate the need for long-term commitments while offering all the amenities of a traditional office. 

With wellbeing firmly on the agenda, features such as natural light and on-site wellness amenities will differentiate day offices, helping employees work efficiently, flexibly, and with purpose. 

Local loyalty

Hybrid work will foster a renewed connection to local communities, IWG predicted. Companies may encourage employees to integrate volunteerism, local partnerships, or skill-sharing into their work week, strengthening employer brands while supporting civic engagement in the communities where employees live and work.

Mark Dixon, Founder and CEO of IWG, said: “Continuous improvements in technology including AI and new approaches to training and development will be significant drivers of productivity, engagement, and loyalty, enabling companies to create a future-ready workforce and working environment that propels business growth.

"We will continue to see a fundamental shift in the geography of work with the centre of gravity moving towards local communities. The remarkable advances in cloud technology and video conferencing software – both vital to enabling effective hybrid working – mean workers no longer need to travel long distances on a daily basis. Innovations in technology will continue to advance in years to come and will radically underline and fuel the flexibility of location.

"The rising demand for more localised working has led to the majority of our new IWG centres opening in the heart of local communities, suburbs and rural areas, enabling many people around the world to say farewell to long daily commutes.”

IWG’s 23 centres in Singapore are positioned across major residential and commercial zones, supporting the city’s shift toward decentralised, close-to-home work options.  

Skilled jobs in Singapore on the rise: Indeed

Higher-skilled jobs related to scientific research and generative AI (gen AI) are growing in demand in Singapore, though the total number of job postings on Indeed declined by 3.7%.

Source: Indeed. Change in Singapore job postings, percentage change. Scientific research and development job vacancies led the pack over the past three months as of end-February 2025.

According to Indeed’s latest Hiring Lab Singapore’s job postings are 50% above pre-pandemic levels, with growth mainly seen in higher-skilled roles like scientific research and development, which rose by 35%. Job postings for security and public safety (+31%) and production and manufacturing (+16%) roles also saw some of the highest gains in the past three months.

As of February 2025, job postings related to gen AI have doubled over the past year. Key gen AI-related roles in demand come from data analytics, scientific research, and software development. Indeed said the growth in such roles shows promise for Singapore’s ambitions to become a regional gen AI hub. The share of Singapore job ads referencing gen AI is now 1.2%, which is 4x higher than countries like the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.

Indeed’s data also highlighted that job postings for cleaning and sanitation (-33%), childcare (-19%), and retail (-18%) roles saw the highest decline in terms of job postings. Such jobs are considered those which require fewer skills. The Ministry of Manpower’s Q4 labour report observed a “notable decline” in employment for workers in lower-skilled sectors, such as those in the administrative and support services.

Callam Pickering, APAC Senior Economist at Indeed, commented: “There’s reason to be optimistic about Singapore’s employment outlook despite the month’s mixed results. Higher-skilled roles remain in high demand, with Singapore standing out globally, especially in gen AI and data-related roles. An exciting challenge now is helping workers integrate gen AI capabilities into their skillsets.”

“While more support and service-oriented roles have seen a dip, it’s not necessarily a cause for alarm. With the labour market set to expand, the focus should be on continuous skills development to stay resilient and competitive.”

Job search and retail websites in APAC compromised: Group-IB

Source: Group-IB. Distribution of ResumeLooters' compromised websites by country and sector.

Group-IB, a creator of cybersecurity technologies to investigate, prevent, and fight digital crime, has identified a large-scale malicious campaign primarily targetting job search and retail websites of companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

The cybercriminal group, dubbed ResumeLooters by Group-IB’s Threat Intelligence unit, successfully infected at least 65 websites between November and December 2023 through SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. Most of the gang’s victims are in India, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, mainland China, and Australia.

Group-IB said ResumeLooters has stolen 2,079,027 unique emails and other records, such as names, phone numbers, dates of birth, as well as information about job seekers’ experience and employment history. The stolen data has been offered for sale by ResumeLooters in Telegram. Group-IB has notified identified victims.

Operating since the beginning of 2023, ResumeLooters has been using penetration testing frameworks and open-source tools to inject malicious SQL queries into 65 job search, retail and other websites and retrieve a total of 2,188,444 database rows of information. Of these rows, 510,259 were user data from employment websites.

Over 70% of the known compromised websites are in the Asia-Pacific region. The gang is primarily focused on India (12 victims), Taiwan (10), Thailand (9), Vietnam (7), mainland China (3), Australia (2), the Philippines (1), South Korea (1), and Japan (1). However, compromised websites have also been identified outside of the region.

Group-IB’s researchers have also identified two Telegram accounts associated with the threat actor. Both accounts have been used to offer the stolen data for sale in Chinese-speaking Telegram groups dedicated to hacking and penetration testing.

“In less than two months, we have identified yet another threat actor conducting SQL injection attacks against companies in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Nikita Rostovcev, Senior Analyst at the Advanced Persistent Threat Research Team, Group-IB.

“It is striking to see how some of the oldest yet remarkably effective SQL attacks remain prevalent in the region. However, the tenacity of the ResumeLooters group stands out as they experiment with diverse methods of exploiting vulnerabilities, including XSS attacks. Additionally, the gang’s attacks cover a vast geographical area.”

According to Group-IB, cybercriminals have been increasingly interested in the Asia-Pacific region. In December 2023, Group-IB reported on GambleForce, a cybercriminal group which conducted over 20 SQL injection attacks against gambling and government websites in the region. Unlike GambleForce, which focuses solely on SQL injections, ResumeLooters has a more diverse modus operandi.

In addition to SQL injection attacks, ResumeLooters successfully executed XSS scripts on at least four legitimate job search websites. On one of these websites, the attackers implanted a malicious script by creating a fake employer profile. As a result, the attackers were able to steal the HTML code of the pages visited by the victims, including those with administrative access. Malicious XSS scripts were also intended to display phishing forms on legitimate resources. It is believed that the attackers’ main goal was to steal admin credentials. However, no evidence of successful theft of administrative credentials was found.

To protect against injection attacks, Group-IB suggested that companies implement comprehensive input validation and sanitisation on both the client and server sides. Performing regular security assessments and code reviews will help to identify and mitigate injection vulnerabilities.

The comprehensive examination of ResumeLooters’ malicious infrastructure, tools, and tactics, along with the full list of indicators of compromise, is available in Group-IB’s latest blog post.

Sixty-five percent of Singapore employees plan to switch roles in 2023: LinkedIn

Despite hiring in Singapore declining 34% year-on-year in December 2022 as compared to December 2021* and uncertain economic times ahead, professionals are taking a long term view of their career by investing in their skills as well as proactively seeking opportunities to progress. According to research from LinkedIn**, almost two in three professionals (65%) are considering changing roles in 2023.

According to LinkedIn, the search for a new job seems to be driven by the need for greater financial security as the cost of living soars, with demand for higher salaries as the biggest motivator for employees wanting to leave a current role (46%). Not only is salary the leading factor in driving employees to look for other opportunities, but an increase in salary is the biggest factor (58%) that would influence them to stay. Nearly one in four (24%) also said they feel more confident in their abilities and think they can find a better role.

Despite uncertain economic times ahead, employees are putting their career in the driver seat. Close to half (46%) say they are now more confident in pushing for a promotion or new opportunity in 2023, as compared to the start of last year. To cushion themselves against the challenging economic climate, more than half (54%) of Singaporeans are learning new skills and deepening their knowledge in areas that are in-demand, building their professional brand (41%), and proactively seeking feedback to improve their work performance (38%).

Out of the rest of the workforce, Millennial employees said they have gone into the office more (20%), and over a quarter in this age group also said they are more focused on development in their current role in response to increasing global uncertainty.

LinkedIn has also published its latest Jobs on the Rise list***, which identifies the fastest-growing jobs on LinkedIn in Singapore. The data reveals that the need to drive business growth in an uncertain economic environment, continued focus on digitalisation, disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity are creating opportunities for professionals in 2023. It offers a glimpse into emerging trends in the workforce and where companies will compete for top talent.

To support job seekers, LinkedIn is hosting a live session for its Singapore members, offering practical career advice and job seeking tips from voices in the know. LinkedIn is also unlocking free LinkedIn Learning courses to support professionals in their next career move.

Pooja Chhabria, LinkedIn’s Career Expert says: “Despite tough economic conditions, the Singapore workforce is relying on their own abilities to grow their skills and push forward in their careers. Since the pandemic, it’s clear that professionals have built up a bank of resilience and we’re seeing this in their confidence to tackle the year ahead. They are striving for the ideal role that offers the right wage and provides work-life balance.

"Job seekers are also being more intentional in their search, whereas others are taking steps to recession-proof their current roles by learning new skills or brushing up on existing ones. In fact, there has been a 43% year-on-year increase in members worldwide adding skills to their LinkedIn profile - 35 million have been added in the last 12 months. Building transferable skills will help professionals be more versatile and adaptable to different roles which is valuable in an uncertain economic climate.” 

Details

Singapore’s fastest-growing jobs** 

1. Sales Development Representative
2. Cloud Engineer
3. Enterprise Account Executive
4. Healthcare Assistant
5. Cyber Security Engineer
6. Site Reliability Engineer
7. Back-End Developer
8. Cyber Security Consultant
9. Technical Account Manager
10. Customer Success Specialist
11. Machine Learning Engineer
12. Artificial Intelligence Engineer
13. DevOps Engineer
14. Investment Associate
15. Product Owner

Explore

LinkedIn has also provided some tips on how to invest in your career in 2023:

Create a standout profile

Be sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date to stand out to recruiters. LinkedIn members with a profile photo have 21 times more views and up to nine times more connection requests than members who don’t. Be sure to include a short summary of your background and highlight your key skills. You can also let recruiters and your network know you’re open to new opportunities by enabling the Open to Work feature on your profile. 

Look for in-demand roles

Whilst the job market as a whole is tightening, LinkedIn's Jobs on the Rise data shows roles in areas such as cybersecurity, sales and sustainability are among the fastest-growing jobs.

Stay on top of the latest updates

In a shifting, competitive job market, the latest information could give you the advantage you need. LinkedIn’s Get Hired newsletter provides timely job search advice and shows which companies are currently hiring and the top voices to follow to stay in the know.

Get interview-ready

Employers will be looking for the best fit, so before each application, think - why is this role for you? How can you demonstrate that? Why should they hire you over someone else? By using tools like LinkedIn interview prep, you can prepare yourself for any interview.

Invest in yourself

Online courses can bridge the gap when learning new skills or brushing up on existing ones. For job seekers, it's vital to understand the skills that are in demand, what skills you have that are transferable and what skills you need to learn. Over 40% of companies globally rely on skills to identify candidates, so think about the five most relevant skills for the job you want and add them to your profile.  

LinkedIn Learning has over 17,000 courses available, for anyone looking to upskill, including free access to Build a Career You Love No Matter the Market, A Career Strategist's Guide to Getting a Job, Mel Robbins on Confidence and A Bold New Approach to Goal Setting with Michael Bungay Stanier to help job seekers prepare for their next career move.

*LinkedIn Economic Graph researchers looked at the year-over-year percentage change in hiring rate, which is a measure of hires in a given time period divided by LinkedIn membership. If the change is less than 0%, this means that hiring activity is lower than it was at the same time in the previous year, and vice versa. 

**Research conducted by Censuswide and based on 22,985 workers aged 18+ from the US, UK, Germany, France, India, KSA, Singapore, Netherlands, Brazil, Australia, Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Japan, UAE, and Sweden between 9 and 19 December 2022.  

***In Singapore, investing in learning and development opportunities to upskill current employees is one of the top two priorities for bosses looking to increase resilience amongst their workforce during times of uncertainty, while 69% admit it’s challenging to attract top talent. LinkedIn commissioned YouGov to survey 2,929 C-level executives across the globe from organisations with 1,000+ employees and annual turnover of £250+ million during 27 September to 19 October 2022. The survey was conducted online.

FastGig app launched to match flexiworkers with gigs

FastCo, the company behind FastJobs, the Asian non-executive job portal for both jobseekers and employers, has introduced the FastGig app in response to the growth of the gig economy. According to FastCo, it is one of the first job apps for gig workers in the Southeast Asian region.

FastGig is Singapore’s first workforce as-a-service (WaaS) platform and helps to match qualified flexible workers with businesses looking for solutions to headcount constraints and labour shortage, especially during seasonal peaks.

Julian Tan, Founder & CEO, FastCo, said: “The official launch of our FastGig app opens a brand-new chapter at FastCo and we are excited to embark on this journey to help address a critical gap in the current economy. Leveraging on the solid foundation of FastJobs, we have created a robust platform that will allow for greater job flexibility for both workers and businesses. We believe FastGig will thoroughly transform Singapore’s gig economy.”

Gig worker numbers in Singapore rose over 10% from 228,200 in 2020 to 248,500 in 2021, and FastCo foresees continued growth as more opportunities become available. According to the Manpower Ministry's 2020 Labour Force in Singapore report, flexibility and freedom are the top reasons driving workers towards such work arrangements. However, the lack of sufficient work and uncertainty around finding available gigs are among the top three challenges these gig workers face.

FastGig closes this gap by enabling workers to access a wide database of freelance work opportunities from verified businesses across job types, timings, and locations, FastCo said. Once registered, users can select job listings via available locations and timeslots on a day-to-day basis. Gig workers are free to plan their own schedules, choosing to work according to their availability and convenience. The entire experience from sign-up to payment on the platform is kept simple and fuss-free, even for those who are less tech-savvy.

The simplicity of the FastGig platform extends to its streamlined payment process, which consolidates payments from multiple businesses. The hassle of filling up timesheets is also removed as users clock in at their work locations by scanning a QR code using their FastGig app. Users will be paid directly on a weekly basis.

“We truly believe that harnessing the right technology will power the transformation of our workforce. The convenience of FastGig will create equal access to job opportunities, thus redefining meaningful work for everyone,” said Tan from FastCo.

According to FastCo, the automation of timesheets and payment processing cuts down on administrative manpower requirements. Instead of processing individual payments, businesses pay FastGig a lump sum on a regular basis from which wages can be deducted. If a user does not show up for work, FastGig can push out shifts urgently, helping businesses to maximise the chances of securing workers last-minute.

Source: FastCo. FastGig helps Singapore gig workers find jobs quickly.

To date, FastGig has worked with dozens of brands to bridge their staffing gap, fulfilling over 160,000 manhours, including NTUC FairPrice, Domino's Pizza Singapore, and Phoon Huat. Michelle Tan, Human Resource Manager, Phoon Huat, said "Our Warehouse and Production departments were struggling to fill vacated positions when many of our China workers left to go back home due to the pandemic in 2021. With Christmas and Chinese New Year fast approaching, we were desperately in need of staff at the end of 2021, and luckily, we found out about FastGig’s services.

"Since engaging their service, FastGig has been very efficient and never once failed to supply us with the daily required workers to address our manpower challenges. We are so thankful for their dedication and professionalism and will not hesitate to recommend their services to any company."

Julia Chong, Human Capital Management, Domino's Pizza Singapore, said “Tapping on FastGig’s pool of reliable gig workers has helped us develop a blended workforce that can better accommodate seasonal peaks. For businesses like ours where operations need to scale up significantly on demand, this service provided by FastGig is a true lifesaver.”

Demand for HR and admin professionals sees upturn in Malaysia

HR and administrative (admin) job roles in Malaysia have entered positive territory for the first time since March 2018, with numbers up 2% year-on-year in December.

In the short- term, this job-role category also saw an improved growth rate, exhibiting 4% growth month-on-month and 2% growth on a three-month basis. The positive sentiment was echoed in the Philippines as online hiring demand for HR and admin professionals in the country continues to soar, to the tune of 22% year-on-year.

Demand for HR and admin interns in Malaysia and Philippines continued to be the highest of all occupations surveyed, at 13% and 5%, respectively. These findings are from the latest Monster Employment Index (MEI), a monthly gauge of online hiring activity across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines tracked by Monster.com. The MEI comprises data of overall hiring activity in each country, as well as specific data in the HR and admin sector.

The job role however is one of the lowest-growth occupations in Singapore. It registered an overall decline of 2% year-on-year.

“As the year ended, the online demand for HR and admin professionals in Malaysia swung upward to clock in a positive year-on-year growth after nine months of decline. It was also one of the three job roles that exhibited positive growth among the nine monitored by the index,” said Abhijeet Mukherjee, CEO of Monster.com – APAC & Middle East.

“Careers are no longer simply defined by jobs and skills but through learning agility and experiences. The ongoing transformation of work, the need for people and organisations to constantly upgrade capabilities and evolve, and shifts in employee preferences demand new approaches to performance management, job design and career development.

"As rapidly advancing technologies and team-centred business models drive organisations to redesign themselves, leaders must keep up to create new career models and build a culture of learning.”

The MEI is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career websites and online job listings across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. The index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.

Source: Monster. Demand for HR and admin jobs.

The future of work is all about getting useful business insights from data

Source: Omron Electronics.

The advent of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) has touched a raw nerve for anyone who works. A lack of skilled people in various sectors has made automation in all its forms much more attractive to employers, and it is clear that automation and AI can replace a great deal of what humans do today.

The response has ranged from positive – an Oracle study shows that 93% of people would trust orders from robots at work – to adaptive – Ericsson's 10 hot consumer trends for 2019 include one about how 31% of consumers soon expect to go to ‘mind gyms’ to practice thinking, as everyday decision-making becomes increasingly automated – to negative.

“Some businesses continue to face resistance from employees who feel threatened by automation. Businesses also face a skills gap in the advanced technology sectors such as robotics, data and AI,” observed Lieu Yew Fatt, MD, Omron Electronics.

Source: Oracle Netsuite.

Naishtein.

“To guarantee the successful adoption of AI, organisations need to prepare the workforce by addressing potential AI skill gaps through training,” said Ronen Naishtein, GM, Asia, HK & TW, Oracle NetSuite.

Manish Bahl, Assistant VP, Center for the Future of Work, Cognizant Singapore echoed Lieu and Naishtein: “Business leaders in Asia Pacific have just scratched the surface in terms of how to leverage AI technologies to improve productivity, profitability and engagement.

"But they have a mammoth task ahead: how to strike a balance between the growing adoption of AI-driven intelligent machines and the future partnership between humans and machines. Equipping the workforce to work in tandem with machines is not only ‘nice to have’ strategy but critical to remain competitive in the digital economy,” he said.

Symbiosis would ideal.

“AI will likely add more jobs than it takes away. The gap between data created, and the human ability to process and act upon it is often overlooked, alongside the availability of today’s analytical tools, and adoption within organisations. Closing these gaps will serve to empower humans," said Dan Sommer, Qlik Senior Director, Global Market Intelligence Lead.

Lifelong learning

Source: Cognizant. Bahl.

Equipping the existing and emerging workforce with skills more suited to an age with AI is going to be important.

“It is crucial to groom the workforce with a 'lifelong learning' mentality at this juncture of digitalisation. In order for individuals to stay ahead of the game during their education journeys and throughout their careers, higher-education institutions and businesses must prioritise skill-based learning and start curating instead of creating relevant curriculums and content for their academic and on-job training programmes,” said Bahl.

The need for data scientists

One way to coexist is to focus on higher-value skills such as analysing data. Chua Hock Leng, MD, Singapore, Pure Storage, said the roles of data scientist and AI specialist would confer more than a competitive advantage. “They will be a necessity,” he said.

Source: Pure Storage. Chua.

“A study that Pure Storage commissioned from MIT Tech Review Insights found that business leaders felt a lack of resources and talent was one of the biggest barriers preventing better management of data in their organisation. As such, in 2019, we expect to see business and industries across the board begin collaborating with educational institutions to help close this talent gap.”

Leslie Ong, Southeast Asia Country Manager, Tableau Software said, “LinkedIn recently released reports on the emerging jobs in several Asia Pacific (APAC) markets and all listed ‘data scientist’ in their top five. This observation is not surprising, as more organisations are recognising the value of data and are hiring people to tap into it.

“The skills required for many jobs are evolving to include data, but according to PwC, just one in five workers in APAC is data literate. Moving forward, we need a concerted effort from the private and public sector to upskill those already in work and provide the next generation with the skills businesses are starting to require.”

Source: Experian. Elliott.

“In 2019, we will continue to see the emergence of data science and our reliance on it. With volumes of data growing exponentially, there will continue to be greater value placed on the capabilities within data analytics fields, across industries and organisations. Companies will need to continue advancing, upskilling and retraining, as data science continues to become mainstream,” agreed Experian Asia Pacific's CEO Ben Elliott.

There will be formally-trained data scientists, and there will be those who learn on the job, as it were. “As the talent gap in the field of data science grows and access to data and AI platforms becomes more prevalent, we can expect to see a number of non-data scientists or ‘citizen data scientists’ emerge.

"We’ll see additional roles emerge and growth in other data analytic roles, such as machine-learning engineers. For organisations who cannot afford the hefty price tag that comes with teams of data scientists and sophisticated platforms, this will bring about a greater collaboration between the lines of business and IT departments,” predicted Sumir Bhatia, President, Asia Pacific, Data Center Group, Lenovo.

Source: Lenovo. Bhatia.

Ong says 2019 will be the year of data for everyone, partly because smart technologies powered by AI will lower the barriers to analytics adoption by automating stages of the process. Like Bhatia, he believes that people with few analytics skills will be able to find insights within data.

“For instance, business intelligence (BI) vendors are incorporating natural language processing (NLP), which helps computers understand human language, to allow users to interact with their data naturally, asking questions as they think of them without technical knowledge of BI tools," Ong said.

Source: Tableau.

Ong.

According to Ong, users will be able to receive insights by typing a question like “what were my APAC sales last month?”, then asking supplementary questions like “what about in Singapore?”. "Allowing people to interact conversationally enables people of all skill levels to ask deeper questions, and helps to transform workplaces into data-driven, self-service operations,” he said.

Data-based corporate culture

Ong further predicted that organisations will increasingly look to create a culture of data. “To facilitate such an environment, companies are increasing engagement through internal user communities. This starts with a group of experts helping non-experts adopt a BI tool, then these users then become experts who help socialise best practices and align others around data definitions,” he said.

Source: SolarWinds. LaRock.

Thomas LaRock, Head Geek,  SolarWinds, also says that 2019 will be the year that data is recognised as a key business driver. He said, “Operations teams must adopt a 'data mindset' to discern the type of data that exists in their department and can be polished into something that adds value to the business overall. With DataOps, organisations can begin to transition their IT team into a data science team, as they adopt a data-first frame of mind.”

DataOps will extract and analyse the most pertinent pieces of data, distilling and crafting them into a compelling and business-digestible narrative that can be easily understood across the organisation, LaRock explained.

“Companies will begin to actuate on this data, not just report and track in Excel—they will start using valuable data to make more informed decisions. The ability to share this actionable, business-digestible narrative may even earn tech pros a seat at the strategy table,” he suggested.

“Looking beyond 2019, the secure and seamless management of data will continue to be honed as a skill across industries. We will see more companies investing in talent or third-party partners that can support in managing and analysing these growing volumes of data, while mitigating the risks associated with it,” predicted Elliott.

New skills wanted

Tomorrow's coveted skillsets will not be focused on data analytics alone, says Ong. “Modern data scientists must possess a hybrid mix of hard skills such as advanced statistical and machine learning knowledge, but also soft skills like communication. To add to this, they are also expected to have a strategic mind for the business, including a deep knowledge of their industry,” he said.

Source: Veeam. McLagan.

Shaun McLagan, Senior VP, Asia Pacific and Japan at Veeam Software, suggests that technicians must become generalists, or rather 'versatilists'. “Talent shortages combined with new, collapsing on-premises infrastructure and public cloud + software-as-a-service (SaaS), are leading to broader technicians with background in a wide variety of disciplines, and increasingly a greater business awareness as well,” he said.

“Specialisation will of course remain important, but as IT becomes more and more fundamental to business outcomes, it stands to reason that IT talent will likewise need to understand the wider business and add value across many IT domains.”

Bahl also said future job scopes will move towards skills that robots cannot deliver, including providing comfort to a patient, overseeing and managing machines, drawing macro insights from big data processed by algorithms, or working interdepartmentally in collaboration by leveraging machine intelligence.

“We now live in a world of more pervasive technology and the things that humans do well are even more important. Hiring managers will start focusing more on human-centric attributes and behaviours rather than only on technical skills when searching for candidates. Skills such as emotional intelligence, problem-solving, or crisis response, will begin sweeping across the industry and become starkly evident in newer job posting,” he said.

Providing the training

By logistical extension, facilitating skills acquisition - learning - will become a boardroom priority.

“Learning in organisations is still perceived as departmentally-driven and, as such, is the responsibility of the learning and development (L&D) and/or HR departments – business functions that are not always the driver of change in businesses. With so much at stake, it’s essential for learning to move from a watercooler topic to a key agenda point for boardroom discussions so that concrete decisions can be made. We will witness reskilling and ultimately learning emerging as a top priority for executives sitting at the top," said Bahl.

Chua sees academia involved. “Courses will be designed to prepare students with the most in-demand skills, with flexible university curriculums that constantly keep up with industry developments. These efforts will help expand the pool of future data scientists at a faster rate,” he said.

Bahl also highlighted the key role that a support ecosystem will play. “Collaboration is a key area that industries have yet to hone this year. When public institutions, businesses, and education institutions step up to proactively form a supportive ecosystem, building on one another’s expertise, we will be able to create a resilient workforce that can adapt to ongoing change.

Source: Qlik. Sommer.

"For instance, Singapore’s SkillsFuture initiative is aimed at helping people develop new skills in addition to their existing skillset for career resilience or a new career path. This is a great initiative to encourage individuals to take ownership of their skills development and lifelong learning,” he said.

“AI will make data and analytics become more human than ever. Designing AI around humans will have much higher impact for organisations in the next five years, than designing to take humans out of the process,” concluded Sommer.

Explore:

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about LG's CLOi robots at CES 2019

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post on the Cognizant study on learning for the digital age

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post on job demand in Singapore for November 2018

IT, BFSI and advertising lead Singapore’s online hiring uptrend

● Online recruitment in Singapore saw a positive uptrend in November 2018, with 5% year-on-year (YoY)  growth since November 2017.

● IT/telecom recorded the most positive growth among industries, with a 22% YoY spike. 

● In terms of occupations, software/hardware/telecom professionals were most in demand, with 8% year-on-year growth 

● Healthcare professionals witnessed the most significant demand drop of 10% between November 2017 and November 2018.

Online hiring in Singapore experienced a rise last month, recording a 5% year-on-year growth between November 2017 and 2018, according to the Monster Employment Index (MEI). This is a significant rise of four points from October's 1% rate, reflecting a positive uptrend. 

Leading with 22% year-on-year growth was the IT, telecom, BPO/ITES industry, which saw the steepest growth since March 2018. Other industries that are in the growth phase were BFSI and advertising, up 16% and 15% year-on-year respectively. 

While BFSI has always been propelling Singapore’s employment landscape, advertising witnessed double-digit growth for the first time in eight months. On the flip side, industries that saw a decline in online hiring from November 2017 were hospitality (4% year-on-year drop), shipping/marine (3% drop), consumer goods (2% drop) and healthcare (1%). 

In terms of job roles monitored by the Monster Employment Index, software/ hardware/ telecom professionals were most in-demand with 8% year-on-year growth for the month of November. Other professions that grew in demand were marketing & communications, customer service and finance & accounts, with 6%, 5% and 5% year-on-year growth, respectively. 

Healthcare professionals witnessed a significant drop of 10% from November 2017 to 2018, better than October’s 14% decline, but still with a long way to go. Demand for hospitality and real estate professionals also recorded a decline of 4% and 2%, respectively. 

“Technology is evolving at an exponential pace, and while some may say that automation is taking away human jobs, it is actually creating a whole range of new roles which didn’t exist before. Companies are investing in artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate processes, and the workforce needs to be trained to work alongside these technologies to achieve maximum productivity,” said Abhijeet Mukherjee, CEO of Monster.com – APAC and Middle East. 

“The IT industry recorded an impressive 22% year-on-year growth, propelling Singapore’s online hiring growth this month. In order to maintain this momentum, employers and educators need to work towards developing 21st-century technological competencies in the current and upcoming workforce.” 

The Monster Employment Index is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity, based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career websites and online job listings across Singapore. The index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.

Source: Monster. Monster Employment Index figures for job categories with the most (left) and least (right) demand for new hires, Singapore, November 2018.

Source: Monster. Monster Employment Index figures for industries with the most (left) and least (right) demand for new hires, Singapore, November 2018.

Cognizant: training curriculums lag behind changing realities

Companies and higher education institutions (HEIs)* are training people for jobs that currently exist, but they need to train them as well for jobs that do not exist as yet.

This was the conclusion from Cognizant's Future of Learning report, based on a global survey of 601 top business executives at leading companies and 262 HEIs. The research aims to uncover insights into the changes these entities are making in their training and educational programmes, and the challenges they face in preparing tomorrow’s workforce.

Findings include:

Preparing the workforce for future jobs is a matter of survival for both businesses and HEIs

The majority of businesses (80%) and HEIs (72%) globally agree it is extremely important to prepare workers and students to work alongside emerging digital technologies. Businesses and HEIs in Singapore estimate that 60% and 55% of their total staff and students, respectively, will be prepared to handle new types of work driven by emerging digital technologies in the next five years. However, a 82% of Singaporean HEIs and 63% of businesses are presently unable to deliver.

Businesses are beginning to bear the burden of learning

Skills have become like mobile apps that need frequent upgrades. While 45% of businesses in Singapore currently update their learning content on an annual or biannual basis, 67% of HEIs only update their curriculum every two to six years. Globally, businesses are intent on speeding the pace of curriculum updates, with 75% planning to move to a one- to five-month or even continuous refresh schedule in the next five years. In contrast, only 30% of HEIs plan to increase update frequency, from today’s two- to six-year cycle to an annual one by 2023.

The work ahead means working together

Preparing the current and future workforce for the work ahead cannot take place in a vacuum. Three-quarters of both businesses and HEIs globally view collaboration as critical to successfully managing the transformative and disruptive impact of the new machine age. Singapore businesses appear less keen to collaborate with HEIs as opposed to educators – only 55% of businesses see collaboration as critical compared to 75% of HEIs.

Emerging technologies such as augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) will supercharge learning by focusing on “how to learn” over “what to learn”

New modes of education delivery will emerge, with Netflix-style, on-demand digital assets allowing for anytime, anywhere self-learning. AI-driven learning platforms will personalise learning, and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) systems will become mainstream, with a 220% increase in the take-up of the technology by HEIs and businesses globally in in the next five years.

Source: Cognizant study. The top priorities for businesses (left) and HEIs (right) on preparing the workforce for the next five years.

Based on the insights, Cognizant has developed an industry solution for businesses and higher education institutions, which they define as a Future of Learning equation. It requires the following elements of change:

- More accurate skills identification to align with actual workplace needs.

- Overhauling the approach of curriculum and training to be more immersive and personalised.

- An environment supportive of self-learning, with access to multiple content sources like open educational resources.

Ultimately, the speed at which these elements are executed will determine their efficacy in preparing an aptly-skilled workforce, Cognizant said, suggesting that businesses and HEIs will need to engage in more flexible partnerships, quicker responses, different modes of delivery and new combined-skill programmes to reliably prepare people for what comes next.

Details:

Read the Future of Learning report (PDF)

*The term 'institutes of higher learning' (IHL) is often used as well.

LinkedIn reveals emerging jobs in Singapore for 2018

Top jobs on LinkedIn in Singapore:

• Data Scientist
• Cybersecurity Specialist
• User Experience Designer
• Head of Digital
• Content Specialist

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, has released the 2018 Emerging Jobs in Singapore Report, which has identified digital competency as being in high demand, together with soft skills. The findings underscore the demand for jobs which require hybrid skills, primarily to help Singapore organisations navigate their digital transformation journey.

LinkedIn analysed* millions of unique, user-input job titles from the last five years, and found that while the top five emerging jobs are all related to technology, many of them require management and communications skills. Their actual roles are varied and diverse, reflecting a labour market that values talent with a hybrid set of complementary skills.

According to LinkedIn, the top five emerging jobs for 2018 are:

• Data Scientist
• Cybersecurity Specialist
• User Experience Designer
• Head of Digital
• Content Specialist

“Our Emerging Jobs Report highlights the reality that new jobs are emerging more rapidly than at any other time in history. Traditional roles have evolved into hybrids that did not exist five years ago. While it’s no surprise that the top emerging jobs for Singapore are all related to technology, many of them require management and communications skills making them hybrids of new and traditional roles – such as user experience designer,” said Feon Ang, VP of Talent and Learning Solutions for APAC at LinkedIn.

The global and local talent shortage has made it necessary for HR and talent acquisition teams to evolve and innovate the way they hire. As skills commonly associated with these emerging jobs evolve, hiring based on a candidate’s title is no longer adequate and accurate in filling these gaps.

Although demand for digital talent is growing, supply is not keeping up around the world. With 'data scientist' being the fastest-emerging job title, and also the one which is the most in demand, skills in machine learning and data analytics are highly sought after. LinkedIn notes that out of the talent that has migrated to Singapore, 21.95% are from India, followed by France at about 14%**.

Source: LinkedIn. Talent migration graph showing the total number of people who have migrated to Singapore since January 2017.

In some sectors, the rising demand for content has also led to job roles such as content specialists, which were not as popular five years ago. This top emerging job is unique to Singapore, home to a number of regional headquarters for various organisations. With most content in English, organisations are looking to locals to fill content specialist roles, but also increasingly at international talent from the UK, Australia and India.

The emergence of user experience designer and head of digital roles in Singapore is also driven, in part, by the financial sector’s investment into establishing a bigger digital footprint. Increasingly, these roles are breaking out of technology companies and spreading across the workforce.

Soft skills like adaptability, collaboration and leadership have emerged to be of increasing importance for professionals, even for roles that are technical. Heads of digital need to know how to communicate and lead effectively as they steward digital transformation projects; content specialists need to be adept at storytelling to ensure their content resonates with their audience; data scientists need to communicate their insights creatively to help consumers make sense of interesting data.

The top skills for the five emerging jobs are:

Data scientist:

• Data science
• Machine learning
• Analytics
• Data mining
• Big data

User experience designer:

• User experience
• Design
• User interface design
• Wireframing
• Banking

Content specialist:

• Content marketing
• Digital production
• Sales enablement
• Content delivery
• Communication

Cybersecurity specialist:

• Computer security
• Consulting
• Management
• Cisco Systems products 
• Research
• Sales 

Head of Digital:

• Digital marketing
• Internet banking
• Management
• Communication
• Leadership

“Digital competence, as we now know, is composed by a blend of hard and soft skills. This competition for talent will only grow fiercer, so organisations need to build an adaptable workforce. Real-time understanding of the demand and supply of skills, talent pools and talent movement is the first step towards building talent intelligence at scale,” added Ang.

Qlik, a data analytics player, agrees with the LinkedIn findings about data literacy. Julian Quinn, Regional Vice President for Qlik Asia Pacific said, “With data and technology presenting opportunities for businesses in Singapore, we believe that data literacy will become an important and common skill – not just to data scientists but for the entire workforce.

"As Singapore is a step ahead in both technology and connectivity, the data literacy skills gap locally is startling. A global research study by Qlik found that 85% of Singaporean employees are not data literate, more than the Asia Pacific (APAC) average. Despite the rising expectations to use data within the workforce, only 15% of employees know how to deal with it. Among graduates, nine out of 10 admitted to not knowing what to do with data.

"Those without the knowledge of data literacy will be limited in what they can accomplish. The responsibility to be data literate falls on everyone’s shoulders - government, employers, and individuals. Governments and organisations can foster this mindset by providing all employees with access to relevant data as well as the tools and encouragement to turn it into insights. On an individual level, people can take simple steps such as asking more questions, and interrogating facts and information given."

Qlik has four tips to enhance data literacy:

- Ask more questions, interrogating the facts and information given. "If you’re shown a graph, be critical and don’t take it at face value – make sure you understand the story it’s really telling," said Quinn.

- Begin pinpointing areas of difficulty where data could be used to support arguments.

- Proactively make the business case for your company to drive a culture of data literacy.

- Start combining data sets to find even deeper insights.

Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has also released labour market figures for 1H18. According to the government, total employment grew, more job vacancies were available, and retrenchments declined. The resident unemployment rate was lower than a year ago, although it rose slightly in Q218 as more people entered the labour force looking for work in line with the pickup in economic activities, MOM said.

Total employment (excluding foreign domestic workers) grew by 6,900 in 1H18, compared with a decline of 17,300 in 1H17, and a growth of 6,700 in 2H17.

Resident unemployment rate rose slightly as more entered the labour force to look for work. The seasonally-adjusted resident unemployment rate rose from 2.8% in March 2018 to 2.9% in June 2018 after a general downtrend since June 2017, but remained slightly lower than the same period a year ago (3.1%). The unemployment data comes from Labour Market Second Quarter 2018, Manpower Research & Statistics Department, MOM.

There were 5,350 retrenchments in 1H18, which was lower than in 1H17 (7,640). At the same time, the six-month re-entry rate into employment of retrenched residents was about two-thirds (63%) in 1H18***, comparable to that in 1H17 (64%). Job vacancies rose to a three-year high of 56,700 in June 2018, an increase from 53,900 in March 2018.

MOM expects labour demand to pick up in 2H18, in line with seasonal hiring as seen in previous years. Hiring is expected to remain cautious in sectors such as Construction and Marine Shipyard, while job opportunities will continue to be available in others such as the Information & Communications, Financial & Insurance Services, Healthcare, Professional Services, Wholesale Trade, and Built Environment sectors.

Explore:

Read the 2018 Emerging Jobs Report for your country

*LinkedIn analysed millions of unique, user-input job titles based on common job roles and counted the frequencies of job titles that were held in 2013 and compared the results to job titles that were held in 2017. The ‘emerging jobs’ are the top five job titles that saw the largest growth in frequency over the five-year period.

**LinkedIn has clarified that the data collected is about the previous locations of talent who have migrated to Singapore, as opposed to the nationalities of that talent. While people moving from India to Singapore might have Indian passports, it is entirely possible that they are from another nationality, were based in India, and later took up a job in Singapore.  

***The 1H 2018 rate is the simple average of Q118 and Q218 rates of re-entry into employment.

New career development platform to address ICM manpower shortage in Singapore

SiTF, together with the support of SPRING Singapore, Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), has launched talentguru, a skills-focused career development platform, powered by analytics to help address the skills gap and manpower shortage challenges in Singapore’s infocomm media (ICM) industry.

“Infocomm media is one of the fastest growing industries and an important enabler in Singapore’s ambitions to be a leading Digital Economy and Smart Nation. There are many exciting job opportunities in this sector, ranging from deep technical roles such as Data Scientists and Cybersecurity Forensic Analysts, to business-strategy roles such as Chief Digital Officers and Enterprise Architects, and more. Recognising that people are at the heart of our digital transformation efforts, we are pleased to support the talentguru portal and its efforts to bridge the skills and jobs gap, so as to build up a more vibrant ICM ecosystem,” said Tan Kiat How, Chief Executive, IMDA at the launch last month.

Talentguru is focused on building capacity in the industry by enhancing the pipeline of ICM talent and deepening the pool of local skills. This initiative is backed by a suite of programmes and a strong community of support from the industry as well as SiTF’s network of partners including government agencies, institutes of higher learning (IHLs), trade associations and training providers.

Talentguru intends to grow the local pool of ICM skills and talent, by helping four groups of people:

· Students – prepares them to launch their careers with confidence by using insights from data to understand skills requirements for jobs and their desired careers pathways;

· Career switchers – empowers and motivates them to re-skill and reach new career peaks in the ICM industry;

· ICM professionals – enables them to stay competitive and relevant by acquiring new skills, widening professional networks and keeping up to date with industry trends;

· Employers – facilitates more effective hiring processes with a focus on objective assessments based primarily on skills.

“Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups will now have a dedicated platform that links employers with fresh graduates and job seekers – a resource that many did not have in the past. Talentguru will also drive industry-wide cooperation by bridging technologists, entrepreneurs, multinationals and Singapore companies with IHLs and government agencies to uncover new science, business and technology talents,” said Benjamin Mah, Co-Chairman SiTF Talent & Capabilities Committee.

Powered by JobKred’s proprietary data analytics technology, talentguru allows users to create their own profile of skills and compare themselves against what the industry needs at any given point in time. This allows users to glean useful insights on skills requirements and explore possible career pathways, which is particularly useful for anyone interested in entering the ICM industry for the first time, such as students and career switchers.

Lim Kang Song, Co-Chairman SiTF Talent & Capabilities Committee, said that the rapid pace of change in the ICM industry can result in job seekers feeling lost and insecure. "Many ICM students also choose not to pursue a career in the industry after graduation because they feel unprepared," he said. "Through some early testing with IHLs, students said that talentguru helped to alleviate some of these concerns by providing a clear picture of the skills they needed to get the jobs they wanted. This is an outcome we hope to replicate with career switchers as well.”

As part of the ecosystem of initiatives supporting the talentguru platform, SiTF is making extra effort to help SMEs and startups attract and retain talent. SiTF is working with SPRING to run a structured internship programme to train internship mentors and facilitate the matching of ICM students with quality internships. In recognition of its efforts, SPRING has appointed SiTF as a Partner for SME Talent Programme (STP), to help strengthen the ICM talent pipeline for SMEs and provide meaningful internship opportunities for local students.

“People are strategic assets to businesses and it is important for SMEs to invest in resources to attract and develop talent. With support from SPRING’s Local Enterprise and Association Development (LEAD) programme, SiTF aims to improve the way job and skills matching is done for the ICT sector, benefitting both job seekers and employers. SiTF is also working on other industry projects such as technology adoption and building up their research capabilities in ICT to strengthen their competency,” said Chew Mok Lee, Assistant Chief Executive, Capabilities & Partnership, SPRING Singapore.

Source: talentguru website. The talentguru initiative will help job seekers tailor their skillsets to market demand.

SiTF is also partnering Proxor, a Carnegie Mellon University spinoff, to administer a rigorous and certifiable skills assessment for Java programming. Proxor’s solution will help test a candidate’s ability to solve real world problems and provide an assessment benchmarked against a global cohort. SiTF hopes that such assessments would gain more industry recognition and help ease the transition for career switchers who have re-skilled to join the ICM industry.

Finally, talentguru will be complemented by a suite of offline events to help build a vibrant and mutually supportive community. Apart from networking sessions, industry talks, and outreach to schools, SiTF and e2i have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to mark a shared commitment to empower local career switchers and displaced professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) transition smoothly into the ICM industry by collaborating on a series of career fairs and seminars over the next two years.

“The ICT sector offers many opportunities and growth potential, and faces a rising demand for tech professionals. To support the demand to attract and groom Singaporeans in this sector, e2i has collaborated with industry partners to recruit manpower through career fairs and professional conversion programmes, as well as bridge skill gap through masterclasses. Talentguru is a platform where Singaporeans interested in joining the sector can identify their training needs, get matched to a suitable job and be part of a vibrant ICT ecosystem,” said Gilbert Tan, CEO, e2i.

Over the next three years, talentguru seeks to engage 500 companies and 10,000 users, facilitating the placement of 3,000 ICM professionals and 1,000 students. It also hopes to train 300 internship mentors in SMEs.

Interested?

View the video introducing talentguru