IS THERE a secret to staying employable? For some mid-career professionals who have looked at the global retrenchment numbers of 2023 - this is not idle musing. While there are numerous courses and upskilling opportunities for all of us, the question is whether the time investment in skills upgrading guarantees our continued employability.

We explore the importance of upskilling and reskilling in the face of digital disruption and AI’s incorporation into corporate workflows with Brandon Lee, assistant chief executive of Workforce Singapore; Alvin Goh, executive director of Singapore Human Resources Institute; and Derrick Chang, CEO of PSB Academy.

While the pursuit of upskilling and reskilling is seen as an individual endeavour, our experts were unanimous in their opinion that companies had a vested interest in collaborating with employees on this journey.

Here are highlights of the conversations, edited and condensed.

Brandon Lee: Career planning has become much more important

“We have to choose to accept that retrenchment is a reality of the world that we live in today. And if we accept that, then I think the increasing volatility or opportunities, if you look on the bright side, in all of our careers, means that career planning becomes much more important.”

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Derrick Chang: Programmes that enable you to go deep

“If you’re a learner who has been in the industry for a long time and wanted to deepen your knowledge, you should be looking for programmes that enable you to go deep. Many people these days look at university rankings. I need to get to the best school. But question is, does that suit you? Is the teaching method what you’re after? Is the learning outcome what you’re trying to get at? We need graduates to be able to perform within the organisation as companies redesign their job processes - redesign their job.”

Alvin Goh: Have the business and moral courage to look from afresh

“To me, there are three types of people when it comes to the concept of box thinking. The first scenario is that there are people who think within the box. The people who think outside of the box. There’s also a third type of people - people who are willing to throw away the box. Because to me, that box represents legacy - old ways of doing things. We need to have the business and moral courage to then look from afresh. And that’s where the unlearning takes place.”