Is Singapore’s workforce ready for the future?

Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin questioned on Thursday if Singapore's workforce is equipped with the skills to meet the challenges of the future.

In a post on The Manpower Blog, Brigadier-General (NS) Tan said that while many employers feel that Singapore's selling point is the availability of a skilled workforce, the country sometimes misses evolving trends.

"Even as we grapple with the here and now, we need to look ahead. How are we gearing up for the challenges of say 2020 and beyond? Will we have the right skills for tomorrow?" he said.

BG Tan wrote that trends such as urbanisation and an ageing population, together with advances in technology and shorter business cycles, will impact the way Singaporeans work.

Citing current initiatives to encourage companies to invest in upgrading the workforce such as the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) system and Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR), he said: "The recession is over, but our challenge is not.

"There is no better time than today to continue building a strong foundation."

In his blogpost, BG Tan said that after discussing with private and public sector leaders, MOM has come with up a list of what it thinks are critical skills for "2020 and beyond", and asked for feedback from Singaporeans about the list.

He divided the list into two types of skills -- cross-functional ones that can be applied to many areas such as communication and networking skills -- and vertical skills that add degrees of specialisation in areas such as integrated health care and legal expertise.

While some have welcomed the move on MOM's part to look into creating such new skills for Singapore's workforce, others have also questioned the effectiveness of constant skills upgrading.

Netizens who responded to his post have said that skills might not be useful if the Singaporeans cannot cope with the cost of living.

On MOM's Facebook page, James Lim wrote, "Upgrading skills alone will be useful and helpful but if we do not address the cost of living in Singapore, average Singaporeans will be marginalised while the rich ones will be able to manage much better in times of difficulties."