Singapore’s Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative Vivian Balakrishnan has shared that more jobs will emerge in the infocommunications space over the next three years, however, the Republic is facing a huge shortage of professionals. 

As per Straits Times report, the education system is producing only 2,800 infocomm graduates each year, in the sector.

If Singaporeans aim to secure these well-paying jobs in infocommunications they have to be prepared, trained and reskilled. 

The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the digital innovation and the demand for jobs and skills is likely to see an immense shift. While sectors like hospitality, aviation and apparel retail take a hit, others like IT and infocommunications are expected to witness some growth. Keeping this in mind, the Singapore government is driving more efforts towards skilling and also encouraging the job-seekers to invest more time and effort in learning and training for these emerging roles. 

The bulk of the COVID-19 support measures totalling almost $100 Bn in the four Budget announcements, made by the Singaporean government had also focused on getting companies to re-engineer their processes and workers to learn new skills so that they are better prepared for the new opportunities when the crisis recedes. 

Dr Balakrishnan shared that the Government is looking into subsidising opportunities for Singaporeans to take up temporary assignments, attachments and traineeships during this down period, while waiting for permanent jobs to open up. It also wants training institutions to step up and for employers to change their mindsets.

He said, “We are also trying to persuade thousands of people willing to learn to come into this sector.”

Singapore for many years has seen a lot of expat movement and has taken talent from across the globe to meet its demand for skilled workers. However, given the current situation, the Republic will focus more on the local talent. "We should not have to apologise that we are tilting the playing field in favour of our own citizens," said Dr Balakrishnan. "We may need foreigners to supplement us or to help us expand the overall pie, but the core and the bulk of the opportunities must come to our people."

How Singapore builds and readies a more skilled workforce for the now and the future of work with a focus on digital is something to look forward to. If they are able to crack this code, the country will become a leading example for many other countries who are trying to focus on enhancing localization as well.