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Singapore needs 1.2m more digital workers by 2025 to remain competitive: report
SINGAPORE will need 1.2 million additional digital workers by 2025 – a 55 per cent increase from today’s levels – to remain competitive, according to a new report commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
This translates to 23.8 million digital skill trainings from 2020 to 2025, said the report, which noted that digitally skilled workers currently represent 63 per cent of Singapore’s workforce.
The report, which surveyed more than 500 digital workers in the Republic and interviewed technology experts, business leaders and policymakers, identified cloud architecture design, cybersecurity, software operations support, web/software/game development, and large-scale data modelling as among the top five in-demand skills in Singapore by 2025.
It also noted that 51 per cent of Singapore’s digital workers, who are not applying cloud computing skills today, believe these will be required by 2025 in order for them to perform their jobs.
Gerald Wong, head of public sector and health insights at IDC Asia Pacific, noted that the shift to digitally-enabled economics has accelerated in the past year as organisations leverage remote-working capabilities to cope with national lockdowns and safe-distancing measures.
“What many Singaporean organisations and leaders didn’t expect was the increased connectedness and service experiences, better resource allocation efficiencies and automation, and the rapid socio-cultural adaptability of constituents and workers to go about their daily lives in such virtual interactions and online transactions,” he said.
The report, Unlocking APAC’s Digital Potential: Changing Digital Skill Needs and Policy Approaches, looked at six countries – Indonesia, Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea.
For Indonesia, the survey found that digitally skilled workers currently represent only 19 per cent of Indonesia’s workforce. The economy will need over 110 million more digital workers by 2025.
The average Indonesian worker will need to develop seven new digital skills within the next five years to keep pace with technology advancements and demand. These include basic digital skills, from learning to use online communication platforms, and collaboration software; to more advanced skills such as cloud architecture design.
“The research highlights the demand for cloud-skilled workers in Indonesia, even in non-technology sectors such as manufacturing,” said Tan Lee Chew, managing director for Asean, Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services.
“AWS is committed to nurturing Indonesian students and workers with in-demand cloud skills to help them remain relevant to the rapidly changing industry demands. We look forward to accelerating training efforts in building the future workforce that will help advance Indonesia’s 4.0 vision.”
According to the research, 43 per cent of digital workers in the manufacturing sector believe they will need cloud architecture design skills as manufacturers adopt technologies to optimise supply chains, and determine the condition of equipment.
Slightly less than half (48 per cent) of digital workers who do not have large-scale data modelling skills said they are highly likely to require these skills to perform their jobs in 2025.
AWS is working with Indonesia’s Ministry of Education and Culture as part of its Merdeka Belajar national initiative to revitalise the curriculum with five universities. These universities will integrate AWS-designed education content into their computer science degree curriculum. Students will learn the fundamentals of cloud computing and related technologies such as cybersecurity, data analytics, machine learning and the Internet of Things.
Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/asean-business/singapore-needs-12m-more-digital-workers-by-2025-to-remain-competitive-report