Seven out of 10 Singaporeans say that generative AI will impact their work. Therefore, it was hardly surprising that 98% of Singapore respondents in the latest survey want their companies to prioritise AI skills in their employee development strategy.
More than half or 57% of respondents have identified AI as one of the most in-demand skills today, which pointed to the need to upskill the existing talent pool as only 15% of those surveyed claimed of having AI skills. In spite of the skills gap, 63% of respondents said their company is keen to use generative AI.
And while 51% are worried about being replaced by AI at work, almost three quarter or 72% of Singapore respondents said they are excited about using the technology.
These are the main takeaways of a new survey conducted by Salesforce, which polled 1,001 workers in the Lion City. These results form part of a global Salesforce survey of 11,035 working adults across 11 countries.
“AI can shape our digital future and will affect many tech and non-tech jobs across the economy. This presents opportunities for workers and companies,” said Terence Chia, cluster director for the digital industry and talent group at Infocomm & Media Development Authority (IMDA).
IMDA’s Jobs Transformation Map has been pushing for the upskilling and reskilling of Singapore’s workforce to ensure they stay agile. Since 2016, its TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) has placed and trained more than 15,000 individuals in tech jobs; and trained 190,000 individuals in tech skills.
“To complement these efforts, we will need tech employers to focus more on skills-based hiring, and less on traditional qualifications. This mindset shift will be key in ensuring our workers and companies remain competitive, and able to reap AI’s benefits.”
Terence Chia, IMDA
Overall, the Salesforce survey revealed workers in Singapore ranked data security skills (60%), ethical AI and automation skills (57%), and programming skills (57%) as today’s fastest-growing and in-demand skills.
AI skills application vary across industries
The city’s manufacturing industry currently ranks top for AI skills application - 21% say they use AI skills within their role, compared to the average 15%. In the public sector, 8% say they use AI skills in their day-to-day role, and in the healthcare industry, only 7% say they do.
“Excitement for AI and generative AI solutions is at an all-time high within the Singapore workforce. As more companies adapt AI and automation to boost efficiency in their operations, the need to train their employees to leverage these tools will become even greater,” said Sujith Abraham, senior vice president and general manager for Salesforce ASEAN.
Still, today’s most used digital skills among workers in Singapore include collaboration technology, digital administration, and digital project management, with 8 in 10 (87%) using these in their day-to-day work.
16% say their role involves other related digital skills like encryption and cyber security, and only 14% claim to be using coding and app development skills.
“It is critical for business leaders to introduce effective skills development programmes to address the talent mismatch. Only then will businesses in Singapore be able to realise the full potential of these technologies, which is especially critical to build resilience in the face of today’s headwinds.”
Sujith Abraham, Salesforce
Skills-based hiring on the rise
The Salesforce study also reveals a shift towards skills-based hiring. 85% of workers in Singapore consider the skills-based experience more important than a degree or industry-specific qualification when trying to land a job in today’s market.
Workers want to expand their limited set of digital skills, and 9 in 10 believe that businesses should prioritise digital skills development for their employees. Based on this, workers are likely to favour companies that seek to boost emerging technology skills and focus on skills-based hiring.
In the same vein, most (82%) people leaders worldwide said that skills are the most important attribute when evaluating candidates. Only 18% said that relevant degree/industry-specific qualifications are the most important.
Most leaders in Singapore (97%) believe that the practice of skills-based hiring provides business benefits such as improved talent retention. Singapore workers similarly believe in the benefits of this practice, with 62% of respondents from the retail industry reporting ‘knowledge sharing’ as a benefit, while those in healthcare report ‘increased diversity’ as the top benefit (65%).
Meanwhile, Assoc. Prof. Damien Joseph, associate dean (Undergraduate Education), Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University said AI skills can be classified into two types: skills in using AI as a tool, and skills in working with AI as a collaborator or a team member.
He said workers should accept that some current skill sets will become less used – if not become obsolete.
“We see that with every wave of technology. In a past wave, the adoption of word processors as a tool led to the erosion of penmanship skills. With collaborative AI, we may lose the skill of writing the very first draft of a report from scratch. In some other implementations of collaborative AI, we may lose some decision-making abilities,” said Joseph.
“Workers should not fear the latter because the antidote to skills loss is upskilling to higher order abilities and toward expertise.”
Assoc. Prof. Damien Joseph, Nanyang Business School, NTU
