The new world of work has created sustained demand for HR teams to adapt to changes and keep pace. Varying business pressures, rapid technological advancements, and evolving workplace culture have mandated companies across the globe to evolve their HR practices and policies. Singapore is no exception. 

With a strong dependence on global markets and foreign workers, Singapore’s economy remains vulnerable to external market supply and demand forces. For HR leaders in the region, it is imperative to keep up with the rising rate of technological transformation in 2023 and build future-ready practices. 

But that is easier said than done. 

Companies in Singapore operate in a fast-changing business environment, often without rigorous studies and perspectives that benchmark HR evolution that will enable businesses to take the right decision. What is necessary, then, is to decode the forces reshaping the future of HR in 2023 and help companies with actionable insights to help them make the right decisions. 

Evolving global business conditions

For a globalized market such as Singapore, HR evolution must reflect the nature of economic volatility in global markets and the need for future-ready talent practices. From inflationary pressures to changing consumer preferences, market forces challenge existing talent practices in the region.

The role of external business change hasn’t gone unnoticed. The recent Singapore budget noted the rising economic uncertainty across companies as a vital economic force and stressed the need to focus on capability building for employees in the region. It highlighted the need for innovation and created budgetary measures to support skilling and fostering meaningful collaborations to spur growth. 

In light of these external changes, companies in the region need to upgrade people management practices to hire, train, and retain people better. A recent study posted that wages (79%) remained one of the top cost challenges for companies in Singapore. While wage concerns remain a critical cost factor, companies in the region still depend on foreign workers. Attracting the right talent requires focus, experience and engagement.

Technology, a constant driver of change

In addition to evolving business conditions, technology remains a pivotal force of change in the Singaporean economy. Reports note how companies must keep up with tech transformation to remain competitive. For HR teams, this means evolving at pace with the right technologies, like AI, and talent analytics, to build sustainable and successful talent practices. 

The use of HR tech in solving talent issues remains pivotal in a region where 96% of businesses face talent challenges. Talent challenges in Singapore take many forms—ranging from rising workforce costs (75%) and attracting and retaining younger workers (51%) to the availability of a limited pool of local high-skilled labor (47%) and stricter policies that restrict the supply of foreign workers (43%).

Moving ahead in 2023, it is critical for companies to use technologies like AI to source better candidates, make hiring quicker and more cost-effective, leverage analytics to skill employees on time, and drive better experiences to retain employees. 

HR Evolution Perspectives

Decoding the forces of HR evolution is but one part of the equation. The other, more relevant part is to ascertain how these forces are leading HR leaders to relook at their talent practices and evolve. 

The People Matters and Darwinbox research study HR Evolution Perspectives 2023: Empower & Evolve charts the progress of talent management practices and HR priorities in Singapore. One of the largest studies of its kind in Asia, it is designed to help talent leaders across Singapore to help navigate 2023 by exploring trends and providing actionable insights. To do so, we must first listen to how evolving market forces and technological usage reshape your vision of change in 2023.

Participate now to help shape HR evolution perspectives for 2023. The study aims to benchmark your talent practices and ascertain the renewed role of organizational agility and employee experience as central drivers of change in talent management.