The Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore states that the demand for individuals with specific technical talents is not limited to the technology sector.
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Singapore is not spared from the layoffs affecting the global tech industry from 2022.
online marketplace carousel 10% reduction in its total workforce last December, and Shopee tells The Straits Times it has started its third round of layoffs last November.
But despite downsizing, Singapore is still investing heavily in tech skills. Efforts to hire and develop technical talent in both technical and non-technical sectors of the country remain strong.
Singapore banks OCBC, DBS and UOB have each developed programs that train technology workers and prepare students to enter the technology industry. OCBC, for its part, announced plans in 2022 to hire 1,500 technical workers over the next three years.
And STLogistics announced last year that it would invest 1.7 million Singapore dollars ($1.2 million) to encourage employees to take up digital skills such as software robotics. Singapore telecommunications company M1 launched a program to equip undergraduate students with skills such as cloud infrastructure support, it said on its website.
The demand for those skills isn’t going away anytime soon — in the tech sector and beyond.
Strong demand for tech jobs
Tech jobs have become increasingly popular in recent years.
In 2022, nearly seven out of 10 of all vacancies in information and communications will be new positions, which Report of Ministry of Manpower All sectors showed the highest level for the third year in a row.
The report states that among job vacancies, technology talents such as software developers and application managers remain in high demand.
Terence Chia, cluster director at Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), said this level of demand is expected to remain as the economy digitises.
“This has been a result of tech companies anchoring and enhancing their high-value technology development and corporate functions,” he said.
On top of that, the demand for individuals in “specialty technology areas” such as artificial intelligence and cyber security is not limited to the tech sector, Chia told CNBC. He said that there is a need for such technical workers in many industries such as finance, manufacturing, logistics and professional services.
Tech ‘powers up all the big banks’
In finance, technology is the engine that “powers all the big banks,” said Donald McDonald, OCBC head of group data.
“We want everyone in the bank … to have at least basic data literacy,” he said.
He added that OCBC has designed a program that equips employees with basic data skills and teaches them how data can be used in their jobs.
According to McDonald, the bank uses the data to understand its customer profiles and personalize the experience for each customer.
Data also plays a role in mitigating risk – OCBC scans every transaction to spot scams and uses algorithms to figure out “who to lend to and… how much to lend.” Is.
McDonald said another data analysis program trains employees in departments such as finance and risk management. It has trained about 400 employees to use advanced data analysis skills such as Python, which McDonald said will help them “outpace” using Excel and other simple tools.
“I see Singapore being established [itself] As a kind of regional hub for AI and deep tech, McDonald said.
specific technical skills
IMDA’s plans are on a wider scale: it has imparted more training Chia said more than 15,000 Singaporeans and more have been placed in specialized technical jobs. He said the jobs are spread across a range of industries, including financial services, wholesale and retail trade and education.
Those jobs often have steep learning curves, but, Chia said, program participants receive “on-the-job training and classroom learning” to pick up specialized skills.
One of IMDA’s programs puts non-technical professionals through an “intense, bootcamp-style experience” that helps them develop into technical professionals, he said.
Higher education is no exception. Chia said “several leading companies” support IMDA’s joint initiative with the Ministry of Education to create training and job opportunities for technical students in vocational institutes.
“There are still many opportunities in the digital economy for Singaporeans,” Chia said.
globally, Tech companies have reportedly cut 102,391 jobs So far this year, but the value of tech talent in Singapore has not diminished.
