SINGAPORE - Singapore’s skill decay is much faster than the global average, said Mr Aslam Sardar, chief executive of the Institute for Human Resource Professionals, at the SkillsFuture Forum on Tuesday.
He said that if skills are viewed as a form of currency, they can always depreciate. As such, companies and individuals must transform and upskill to keep pace with the demand of new skills in the era of digitalisation.
“It is almost existential and a competitive advantage for both the enterprise and the individual to upskill,” he said.
Mr Aslam was speaking at a panel discussion at the forum titled Digital Upskilling For Business And Career Growth.
The one-day event, held at the Lifelong Learning Institute, was organised by SkillsFuture Singapore and supported by The Business Times and SPH Media.
The other panellists were Microsoft Singapore’s managing director Lee Hui Li, SkillsFuture Singapore CEO Tan Kok Yam, and hospitality company DITP’s CEO Lee Kian Chong.
The panel discussed how companies and organisations should invest in their employees with digital upskilling opportunities so as to encourage business and career growth.
It was moderated by The Business Times’ associate editor for product Christopher Lim.
Panellists said that digital upskilling need not be in the form of lengthy formal training and can take on more innovative and engaging forms.
Mr Aslam said that in his organisation, employees use learning circles as a way to learn collaboratively and upskill.
“You don’t have to think of upskilling in the traditional stance. Maybe a little bit of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking can make it very interesting for both the enterprise and the individual level,” he said.
Ms Lee shared how Microsoft partners with companies like Fong Engineering and educational institutions such as Singapore Polytechnic to leverage a bigger ecosystem to drive digital transformation.
Encouraging partnerships between the public and private sectors, she added: “Sometimes you have to think about how you can co-innovate with a broader ecosystem.”
DITP’s Mr Lee said that with the new Workplace Skills Recognition Programme by SkillsFuture Singapore, DITP can now formally certify its employees after they have completed their training within the company.
“This means that our people don’t need to go out there to do formal learning – they can get certified in-house,” he said, adding that this allows for staff to receive training from their managers and supervisors in aspects such as customer service.
It is crucial to clearly define upskilling areas for the mutual benefit of employees and employers, according to SkillsFuture Singapore’s Mr Tan.
He said: “It’s about the clarity of the ecosystem. We signal clearly and communicate clearly to workers (that) going for this course will get you here, getting work experience will get you there.”
On Tuesday, SkillsFuture Singapore and Generation Singapore – a non-profit that provides skills training and job-matching support to adults at any stage of their career – jointly released a SkillsFuture job skills insights report.
Titled Never Too Late: Navigating A Mid-Career Transition To The Tech Sector, it aims to highlight the possibilities of mid-career transitions into the digital economy.
Featured in the report was Madam Sameera Hassan, a 45-year-old mother of three who had taken a five-year hiatus from the banking industry.
She wanted to re-enter the workforce and was interested in the data field. After completing a nine-month SkillsFuture programme for business intelligence and data analysis, Madam Sameera is now a data engineer at professional services company Cognizant Technology Solutions.
“As long as you show that you are willing to learn new things, there are many companies that will want to take you in,” she told The Straits Times.
‘Think of training outside of courses’
Mr Aslam Sardar, chief executive, Institute for Human Resource Professionals
“My suggestion to everyone is to think of learning not in terms of bulk-sized one-day courses, but rather as micro learning, where you can acquire the knowledge quickly.”
Mr Tan Kok Yam, chief executive, SkillsFuture Singapore
“An ageing workforce is also an experienced workforce... (But) how then can I use this background knowledge and look at a new tool, like generative AI, and how it fits into my work?”
Ms Lee Hui Li, managing director, Microsoft Singapore
“In Microsoft, we have a growth mindset culture... We have self-paced learning, sometimes face to face, sometimes over lunch where we get groups together to share best practices, sometimes on your own. So, learning becomes part of staying employable and relevant.”
Mr Lee Kian Chong, chief executive officer, DITP
“We’ve tried hybrid models, in-class models, totally virtual models... Increasingly, different types of training are being formally recognised, and that really helps our team to continuously be able to go for training... But sometimes, it’s also important to create a time for people to go out there and to create, learn and meet other people.”
SkillsFuture in numbers
In 2022, about 560,000 Singaporeans and 20,000 enterprises took part in SkillsFuture-supported programmes.
Since 2017, more than 125,000 individuals have benefited from SkillsFuture for Digital Workplace, a foundational course in digital literacy skills.
More than 192,000 Singaporeans utilised their SkillsFuture Credit in 2022, higher than pre-Covid-19 days.
About 30 per cent of 84,000 eligible employers have used their SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit by March 2023.
