As many as 91% of Singaporeans are interested in career learning and development (L&D) opportunities, however, despite the high percentage of respondents who hoped to enrich their career through learning and development, only 22% have received training and upskilling opportunities from their employers in the past 12 months, reveals the latest 2022 Workmonitor survey by human resources solutions agency Randstad Singapore.

Further, almost three in four respondents (73 %) agreed that training and development is important, citing soft skills (56%), career development (49%) and technical skills (47%) as the areas they wished to receive training for.

“Singaporeans are keen to develop their soft and technical skills to be more productive at work and have more employment options to choose from, especially in growth sectors like technology, e-commerce and digital banking. Companies that invest in upskilling their workforce will have a more productive and skilled workforce. Organisations will also be more capable of attracting and retaining talent who seek development opportunities to grow into value-add and meaningful jobs,” said Jaya Dass, managing director of permanent recruitment - Asia Pacific at Randstad.

Asked how likely they are to stay with their current employer, only 43% respondents said that they are committed to do so. This is 17% lower than the global average.

“The pandemic has spotlighted Singaporeans’ priorities such as having more clarity on their contributions at work, as well as career purpose, especially since they are motivated to take advantage of the new job opportunities in the market. The mismatch between Singaporeans’ desires to progress in their careers and the sense of empowerment that they have in their current jobs, presents an opportunity to employers to help their workers feel more satisfied in their jobs and engaged with the organisation,” Dass added.

Cognisant of how a changing business landscape would impact their career outlooks, Singaporeans are actively looking to roadmap their future career progression, as well as navigate priorities in both their work and personal life.

As per the survey three in five of respondents expressed wanting to speak to a career coach about earning a higher income, followed by better work-life balance (49%) and career advancement (40%).

The bi-annual survey was conducted between 21 February 2022 and 13 March 2022 with 1,000 locally-based respondents who are employed and aged between 18 and 67 years old in Singapore.