Upskilling efforts must tackle mismatches in skills, expectations: SkillsFuture Forum
Hiring based on skills, not just qualifications, can result in a better job fit, say panellists
THE national effort to upskill Singapore’s workers must tackle various mismatches, from structural skills shortages to differences in expectations and mindsets, said panellists at the annual SkillsFuture Forum on Tuesday (Jul 9).
They added that employers must keep up with employees’ expectations, while workers should adapt if their skills no longer match the market’s needs.
The need for complementary efforts was also flagged by Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing, who noted in his opening speech that the success of Singapore’s SkillsFuture movement relies on training providers, employers and workers alike.
Training providers must improve their offerings to meet adult learners’ needs; employers must identify the skills needed and develop their employees; and workers themselves must pursue skills development, he said.
The SkillsFuture Forum kicked off the annual SkillsFuture Festival, which runs till Aug 21. With the theme of “Recognising Skills, Building Careers”, the forum is organised by SkillsFuture Singapore and supported by The Business Times and SPH Media.
Skills-based hiring
In a dialogue following Chan’s speech, panellists noted that hiring based on skills, not just qualifications, can help to ensure a better job fit.
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One of the four panellists, Fei Siong FastFood (Popeyes PLK Singapore) chief executive officer Jedrick Tan, said his company tends towards skills-based hiring, due to the nature of the food and beverage industry. For instance, academic qualifications are not a hiring prerequisite for back-end roles in the kitchen.
“What’s key here is whether the individual has the ability to perform at that particular job role,” said Tan.
As skills-based hiring does not exclude candidates who lack certain academic records, it provides access to a wider pool of talent, he added.
Having industry-recognised skills certifications would make skills-based hiring more efficient, he noted. For “hot jobs” with many applications, skills certifications can be used to filter candidates.
However, there may be a structural skills mismatch for certain “hot jobs”: a gap between the skills that are in demand and the skills that workers have.
Panellist Dilys Boey, chief executive of Workforce Singapore, flagged this as a major challenge for employers.
This skills gap worsens as the workforce ages – with less fresh talent – and as workers work for longer, she noted.
To tackle this mismatch, she encouraged employers to support internal mobility by upskilling current staff to move “from a cold job into a hot job”, or redesigning job roles.
Tan suggested that companies tailor training for different groups, such as mid-careerists versus experienced industry professionals, “to ensure that they are trained based on their skills gaps”.
Another mismatch could be within a company’s leadership. In bigger companies, the talent acquisition team might not be aligned with the diversity, equity and inclusion team on hiring benchmarks, said Gloria Arlini, chief operating officer and country lead for global employment non-profit organisation Generation Singapore.
Certain attributes, such as confidence and eye contact, are associated with good performers or good leadership, she noted. “But then when you start working with a broader talent pool, some of those assumptions need to be revisited.”
For instance, some individuals on the autism spectrum may have social anxiety and are not as adept at conversing with HR representatives. But that does not mean they lack the skills for the job, she said.
Being open to change
Employees, for their part, must accept that they will not hold one role their entire life, said the panellists. Rather, they must be flexible and adapt to the market’s needs.
Lim Minhan, head of consulting for cybersecurity provider Ensign InfoSecurity, said: “Whatever you know today may be irrelevant in the next five years. We need to constantly force (employees) to think about the future, (to realise) that their current skill sets will no longer be enough to last their entire career span, and think about what they need to do to be forward-looking.”
To help adult learners in their upskilling efforts, training providers must match their needs.
Said Arlini: “For employees, the way they see time is really in bursts, so flexibility is key.”
Meeting these needs could be as simple as breaking down training content into “bite-sized” chunks or making it accessible via mobile, she suggested.
A final mismatch to tackle is between employers’ and employees’ expectations, particularly on work-life balance.
Tan noted that some workers might prioritise leaving the office on time over career progression. Others who aim to level up, however, can be put on structured training programmes at Popeyes.
To meet employees’ expectations on this front, employers can “look at jobs differently”, suggested Boey. Beyond flexible work arrangements, employers could break down jobs to better match individual workers’ skills or personal aspirations, she added.
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