SkillsFuture courses to be refreshed to focus on digital, green and care sectors

SINGAPORE: From Jan 1, 2023, Singaporeans can undergo specialised training to acquire skills in the digital, green and care industries, through a refreshed series of SkillsFuture courses.

These skills are in high demand today and transferable across different jobs and industries, according to the second annual report from national skills agency SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) released on Tuesday (Nov 22).

The Skills Demand for the Future Economy Report aims to help Singapore workers identify “priority skills” and plan their career trajectories. It was first published in December last year.

This year’s report also detailed potential upskilling and career options specifically for mid-career workers aged 40 to 59 - who make up half of Singapore’s resident workforce.

Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, who launched the report at the SkillsFuture Fellowships and Employer Awards Ceremony held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, said upskilling and reskilling were now increasingly necessary for individuals - and businesses - to thrive.

“To remain competitive, enterprises have to transform and grow, and that requires new skills and competencies," he said.

“Rather than only seeking to hire individuals from the market to plug these skills gaps, companies can also invest in training their existing pool of workers.”

This year's SkillsFuture report grouped priority skills associated with the digital, care and green economies into 18 “emerging domains”, ranging from cybersecurity to green infrastructure to health and wellness.

Priority skills refer to those required by the most number of job roles across sectors under each area.

SSG measured the demand growth and transferability of such skills from 2018 to 2021.

Demand growth refers to the growth in employers’ demand for a specific skill now and in the near future, as reflected in job postings within that period.

Transferability, which shows how versatile someone’s career is, refers to the number of unique job roles that require a certain skill, as reflected in job postings.

Aside from the digital, care and green economies, SSG has identified 60 priority skills associated with the increasing adoption of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and processes, by companies in the manufacturing and related sectors.

Because digitalisation and sustainability are key I4.0 themes, there is a “fair degree of overlap” with priority skills linked to the digital and green economies, SSG said.

COURSES FOR DIFFERENT PROFICIENCIES

SkillsFuture Series courses, previously categorised into eight areas, will be reorganised to support these emerging developments.

The courses will continue to be available at different proficiency levels of basic, intermediate and advanced.

Training providers have already rolled out courses in the digital, green and care economies in response to industry trends.

For example, this year, institutes of higher learning — which include the six local universities and five local polytechnics — have launched new courses in green skills such as carbon footprint management.

Other new courses include those that provide specialised skills training in areas like green facilities management, sustainable engineering, and environmental sustainability management.

IN-DEMAND JOBS

In the green economy, these were jobs the report highlighted as having the highest skills demand growth:

• Architect/architectural associate
• Building supervisor
• Solar photovoltaic project development engineer
• Automation engineer

Jobs with growing skills demand in some emerging domains include food safety specialist and food technologist in the energy, resource circularity and decarbonisation industry.

SSG noted that many existing jobs would require green skills, with companies implementing more environmentally sustainable practices and developing sustainability targets.

In the digital economy, more job roles and sectors will require skills in e-commerce, digital marketing, artificial intelligence and data and analytics, according to the report.

These are some of the jobs that workers can consider:

• Product development manager
• Customer experience manager
• Data analyst
• E-commerce manager
• Threat analysis manager

Meanwhile, the fastest-growing skills in the care economy include those in community partnership - for jobs like programme executive and senior care staff - as well as family and caregiver engagement - for roles such as childcare centre manager and senior nurse educator.

MID-CAREER WORKERS

SSG noted that mid-career workers are well-represented across five job scopes:

• Operations and administration
• Sales, marketing and customer service
• Human resource
• Finance and accounting
• Engineering and technology

Mr Chan said the Government was keen to support these workers in job switches - within the same sector or across sectors - by “highlighting possible upskilling pathways and available resources”.

Mid-career workers should consider upgrading their skills or learning new ones to either stay versatile within their industries - or seize the chance to move into growth roles, said SSG.

For example, those in operations and administration would likely be skilled in project management, business continuity management and innovation management. Such workers can use these skills to transition into areas like finance and sales.

In his speech on Tuesday, Mr Chan noted that many employers already sponsor training for employees during work hours. Progressive employers are also providing flexi-work arrangements like training leave and time off, to support those upgrading their skills outside of working hours.

This makes a real difference for mid-career workers with many work and personal commitments, he added.