More employers (65%) look to augment their workforce, compared to a year ago (56%) with businesses looking to 2022 with optimism. However, out of those who are hiring or intending to hire new talent, four in five (78%) of them are facing a challenge in filling job roles due to a lack of talent with relevant skillsets.
This talent crunch may be exacerbated with only one in ten employees (10%) actively looking for a new job. Most employees (60%) are open but not actively looking for a new job, whereas 30% of employees are not looking and would remain in their current roles.
These are some key findings from NTUC LearningHub‘s recently launched Emerging Jobs and Skills Report, where over 650 working professionals from Singapore were surveyed in December 2021.
The respondents comprised both employers and employees from the six main industry clusters in Singapore, with the aim to uncover a dual perspective about the current job market, emerging jobs and skills, as well as the training landscape.
The report reveals that industry clusters facing a greater talent crunch are Modern Services (87%), Manufacturing (83%) and Essential Domestic Services (80%). These include roles in Infocomm Technology (ICT) and Media, Energy and Chemicals, and Healthcare respectively.
Correspondingly, the report also uncovers that employees working in Essential Domestic Services are the least likely to actively look for new employment (only 6% are actively looking), followed by Manufacturing (7%) and Modern Services (10%).
When asked about the reasons for not actively job searching, the top three reasons given by employees are ‘being satisfied with the current role’ (60%), ‘satisfaction with the current pay’ (33%), and ‘current company provides job security’ (24%).
Commenting on the findings, NTUC LearningHub’s Anthony Chew, Director of ICT, says, “To plug the skills chasm, companies could benefit from upskilling both existing and new employees to boost their workforce competencies and meet business objectives.
“NTUC LearningHub has been working closely with companies to curate outcome-focused training to place employees with latest industry-relevant skills set in their companies.
“This is achieved through our ‘train and place’ and ‘place and train’ programmes where we work with employers and NTUC’s e2i to match them with mid-career switchers who have reskilled through our programmes, or help their new hires undergo targeted classroom training and on-the-job training. Both programmes enable talents to seamlessly transition into their new roles.”
He adds, “Through these programmes, companies can also tap on various training resources, government funding and support schemes. We urge employers who are facing talent shortages to work with us and leverage these programmes to cast a wider net for qualified candidates.”
