The MOM minister has identified the ‘key skill’ that he thinks will be crucial for tomorrow’s workers
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Advancements in technology worldwide would drive the creation of new jobs, according to Minister for Manpower Lim Swee Say. In a speech at the G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting in Germany last week, the minister said this progress should be welcomed to usher in “better jobs and better careers.”
“Technology will help create many ‘jobs-of-tomorrow’, from high tech to high touch, from advance manufacturing to digital services.” However, he warned that this will come at the cost of many current occupations because “technology can do these jobs cheaper, better and faster.”
Lim stressed that adaptability will be the key skill for workers in the future, as rapid transformation in the workplace is expected to heighten the level of job-skill mismatch.“More workers will have to re-skill repeatedly just to remain employable in the same profession, or pursue new and different professions. The most important skill of the future is therefore the ability to re-skill.”
Although employees may feel pressured by the need to keep up technologically, but Lim said that innovation and inclusiveness can co-exist in the future, even among those who find it difficult to adjust.
“For example, telecommuting can make workplaces more family-friendly; robotisation or cobotisation can make jobs easier, safer and smarter for the older workers to work longer; intelligent technology can help improve productivity and improve wages, make work more decent especially for the lower wage workers,” said the minister.
Lim cited Singapore’s SkillsFuture movement, which aims to assist workers in adapting to future jobs through re-skilling. Older employees can maximise automation processes in order to lengthen their careers in a safe environment as well as raise productivity, while the freedom to work from home can improve employee morale.
“We should not allow technology and innovation to divide our workforce. Instead, we should use them to improve the employment and enhance the employability of all workers,” said Lim.