Firms ‘must learn to tap new skills being picked up by workers’

SINGAPORE — The launch of the SkillsFuture movement in 2015 gave Singaporeans a head-start in developing their skills, but this momentum must be built on, so Singaporeans continue to pick up “deep skills” throughout their lives to adapt to new demands.

Employers must also make use of the new skills gained by their workers promptly by ensuring a strong link between training and job requirements, said the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE).

For a start, a one-stop education, training and career guidance portal could be set up to help individuals plan their education and training. “As technology replaces routinised tasks, people need to acquire deeper skills to create value, and more importantly ensure that they can utilise their skills effectively on the job,” said the CFE.

More module-based training programmes could also be offered, with the provision for courses to be combined to acquire higher qualifications. But such training should be digitised, so that individuals can learn at their own pace outside the classroom.

There should also be more cross-recognition of qualifications acquired under different frameworks, and the Government should work with education and training providers and industries to work this out, the committee said. One way would be to offer module exemptions for SkillsFuture Earn and Learn programme graduates pursuing subsequent degrees.

Companies have to pay more attention to in-house training, by offering work-learn programmes to existing employees, instead of fresh hires only.

They also need to learn to groom employees, with the Government backing them by strengthening their leadership and human resource management capabilities. Staff should be recognised for their skills and competencies instead of their qualifications.

As an incentive for companies to prize employees’ skills over qualifications, companies that do so could be given preferential treatment for certain government schemes associated with skills training or industry development programmes, the committee suggested.

Also, the user experience of the national jobs bank has to be improved, and more agents should be appointed to match “harder-to-place” jobseekers with potential employers, the committee said.