Skills demand growth

Building upon its 2021 inaugural report, which identified skills in three main areas—the digital, green and care economies, this second edition report dives deeper by adding a new dimension on skills demand growth alongside skills transferability. The report also illustrates how mid-career workers can upskill to stay relevant in their current job category, or reskill to take on opportunities in other fields.

The Care Economy

The Care Economy continues to grow in importance in 2022. As Singapore moves into the endemic phase of COVID-19, organisations are dealing with new challenges, such as staff resignations and shortages and increased awareness of the importance of mental health at work. At the national level, Healthier SG1 is an ambitious plan focusing on preventive care to help all Singaporeans achieve better quality of life by promoting health, wellness and fitness.

With the demographic shift, there is an increasing need for preventive and community care, adult education, and workplace learning and development, to cater to the needs of an ageing population and workforce. Preventive care, workplace learning, transformative human resource, learning and development practices, and the importance placed on mental well-being are noted to drive changes to jobs and skills.

Emerging domains in the Care Economy

The report classifies skills of increasing importance in the Care Economy into four emerging domains namely, Person-centred Care, Collaboration with Stakeholders, Teaching and Learning and Health and Wellness.

Emerging Domains in the Care Economy

Person-centred Care

Skills in the Person-centred Care domain support effective delivery of personalised care to an individual. These skills support tasks in operational management, client data management, and service excellence in interaction.

Collaboration with Stakeholders

Skills in the Collaboration with Stakeholders domain strengthen care professionals’ partnership abilities to deliver care services that benefit clients, as well as their families and caregivers. Strong collaboration across stakeholder groups remains a key enabler in delivering quality care. These stakeholder groups include professionals across multiple disciplines, community partners, and social service agencies.

Teaching and Learning

Skills in the Teaching and Learning domain seek to maximise individuals’ performance and realise their potential. More organisations are now treating employee learning as a strategic priority to prepare their employees for changing business needs and promote their career growth. Learning specialists and business unit managers need skills to design and implement workplace learning modes and effectively engage employees through career conversations.

Health and Wellness

Skills in the Health and Wellness domain promote and develop the individual’s overall health and well-being. Along with more healthcare, there will also be a greater societal need for skills that are related to preventive care, wellness and fitness promotion, mental resilience and self-care. These are needed both within companies and in the larger community.

Table 1: Highly transferable skills under the Person-centred Care domain

Table 2: High growth skills under the Collaboration with Stakeholders domain

Table 3: Highly transferable skills under the Teaching and Learning domain

Table 4: High growth and/or high transferability skills under the Health and Wellness domain

This column is dedicated to the pursuit of continuous learning and development and takes its name from the banyan tree. It has roots that grow deep, anchoring it firmly in the soil. The tree spreads its shade wide and far and provides space for reflection and discussion. We invite you to come and take a seat under its shade.