What's New?
Building upon the inaugural report launched in 2021, the Skills Demand for the Future Economy (SDFE) Report 2022 is enriched in the following ways.
- A new dimension to skills analysis provides deeper insights on the nature of priority skills: skills demand growth refers to the relative increase in demand for a skill, where skills with high demand growth are more likely to see shortages now and in the near term. This complements skills transferability, introduced in 2021 to reflect how many unique job roles require a skill, which contributes to an individual’s career versatility.
- The report highlights jobs and skills insights for the implementation of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and processes in manufacturing.
- The report illustrates how mid-career workers can upskill to stay relevant in their current job families, or reskill to take on opportunities in other job families.
- A study by the Institute for Adult Learning on Critical Core Skills (CCS) use and development needs is presented. These insights will help individuals to prioritise the CCS to develop based on their nature of work.
Download the Skills Demand for the Future Economy Infographic:
Key Insights
- Many existing jobs will require green skills as companies across sectors adopt more environmentally sustainable practices and develop sustainability targets for compliance and reporting. For instance, as more buildings and transport systems go green, skills such as Green Facilities Management are seeing demand growth of more than 2,000%.
- Environmental, sustainability, and compliance-related green skills are the most transferable across sectors and job roles, and are ‘no regrets’ moves for citizens to upskill in. Environmental Sustainability Management is required by more than 400 job roles while Environment and Social Governance by close to 300 job roles, spanning across many sectors.
- Within the Sustainable Finance domain, skills such as Carbon Markets and Decarbonisation Strategies Management and Sustainable Investment Management are seeing demand growth of more than 1,500%. Other emerging areas such as urban farming, food technologies, and novel food development are also seeing high demand for related skills as Singapore aims to produce 30% of our nutritional needs by 2030.
Green Economy Suggested Courses
Download the Green Economy infographic here (PDF, 574.76 KB).
- Skills in Software Development and Cloud, Systems and Infrastructure domains are growing in demand as businesses develop more digital products and build up their IT networks and infrastructure. With growing emphasis in user-centric design, skills in Software Design and User Experience Design see demand growth of more than 80% and are required by up to 300 job roles.
- With strong demand by companies to digitalise, Radio Frequency Engineering that supports 5G network development sees demand growth of more than 150%, while Solution Architecture to develop integrated systems and Data Centre Facilities Management both see demand growth of more than 100%.
- E-commerce and Digital Marketing, and AI, Data and Analytics-related skills are the most transferable across sectors and job roles. With the growth of e-commerce business models, skills in Product Development and Customer Experience Management are required by more than 800 job roles; while skills in Big Data Analytics and AI Application to manage data from these platforms are required by more than 700 job roles.
Digital Economy Suggested Courses
Download the Digital Economy infographic here (PDF, 631.89 KB).
- Increased emphasis in holistic care services translates into high demand growth for skills in Community Partnership (200%) and Family and Caregiver Engagement (100%), as well as in Professional Consultation (105%) to co-create solutions among partners.
- As businesses continually adjust to the needs of the economy, Change Management is required by close to 800 job roles. The tight labour market sees demand for skills in Human Resource Advisory, Coaching and Mentoring, and Performance Management in more than 600 job roles as innovative practices are required to attract, retain and manage talent.
- Demand for skills in Health and Wellness have increased significantly and are today needed beyond traditional care roles. Resilience and Self-care and Health Promotion are examples of skills with growing demand that extend outside of primary care and into human resource job roles, as the focus on health management and mental well-being of employees grows.
Care Economy Suggested Courses
Download the Care Economy infographic here (PDF, 537.4 KB).
- With Industry 4.0 (I4.0), companies can increase productivity by reducing downtime and maintenance costs, increase energy and resource efficiency and drive innovation. Doing so requires work processes and functions to change, impacting job tasks and requiring the workforce to pick up a bundle of I4.0, digital and green skills.
- The skills to acquire depend on the job roles affected. For instance, a Logistics Solutions Manager will be required to pick up Big Data Analytics as a digital skill, Carbon Footprint Management as a green skill, and Process Improvement as a I4.0 skill.
- Engineers at various stages of the manufacturing process will have to take on different digital skills to fully harness I4.0 transformation. For instance, design engineers will need Big Data Analytics and Programming and Coding, while product engineers will need Agile Software Development and Internet of Things Application – these are non-traditional skills for engineers.
- Non-technical roles such as customer service, sales and human resource are seeing their job roles evolve as I4.0 implementation affects the entire value chain. For instance, Field Sales Executives will need digital skills in E-commerce Management and AI Application as well as I4.0 skills in Supply Chain Management. Although the degree of change in job scope and skills may vary, almost no job role can escape from some form of job redesign.
Industry 4.0 Implementation Suggested Courses
- Mid-career workers form half of the resident workforce and are well-represented in five job families: (i) Operations and Administration; (ii) Sales, Marketing and Customer Service; (iii) Human Resource; (iv) Finance and Accounting; and (v) Engineering and Technology.
- As these job families undergo transformation, mid-career workers can either upskill to stay relevant in their current job families or reskill to move into other job families.
- Mid-career workers need to assess their skilling options to select the one that best meets their aspirations for career growth. The chapter provides a simple 5-step guide for mid-career workers to assess their career values, set their upskilling / reskilling goals, assess the skilling intensity that they are comfortable with, and evaluate the affordability of skilling options and attractiveness of new job roles.
Download the Mid-Career Workers infographic here.
- There is increasing employer demand for Critical Core Skills (CCS) as soft skills are essential for business transformation. Research by the Institute for Adult Learning found that Self Management, Influence and Creative Thinking are the top three most important CCS used at work.
- There are seven work-role archetypes with distinctive CCS use and development needs. Individuals who are interested to understand their specific CCS needs can take an online CCS profiling survey. Please note that the tool is being upgraded and will be ready in end-Sep 2023.
- Workplace learning through trial and error, on-the-job training and peer support was found to be more effective than classroom training in picking up CCS.
Download the Industry 4.0 Implementation and Critical Core Skills infographic here.