Three in four, including leaders, feel they lack the expertise needed to do their job well
Three in four white-collar workers in Singapore feel they lack the expertise needed to do their job well, according to a new study.
The impact is felt both by the individuals and the companies they work for. 56% of respondents said that as a result of their lacking skills and knowledge they have made mistakes at work and are not performing at the required level.
43% feel unhappy at work and a further 25% want to leave their current job, based on the Tigerhall study.
The number of years in the workplace had little impact on whether respondents felt well-equipped to do their job, with only a slight difference between Singaporeans in their 20s and those in their 40s.
Additionally, over half (57%) of senior and director level professionals, those highest paid and responsible for the company's financial success, also reported that they lacked the necessary skills and knowledge to perform well at work.
The research also found that when it came to what was lacking, survey respondents were split equally between soft skills such as managing people, negotiation or presenting, and job role specific skills such as digital marketing, financial modelling, and agile methodologies.
Shockingly 78% of those who felt ill-equipped held university degree level education, and 69% a master’s degree, raising serious questions about the content and value of university degrees and professional courses.
“The research is sadly what we expected and reflects the sentiment we’ve seen in the market and amongst our users,” said Nellie Wartoft, CEO at Tigerhall. “Adults are not receiving the level of professional knowledge and skills they need and deserve.
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“Formal education is struggling to measure up and it’s only getting worse due to the speed of change we’re seeing in the workplace.
“The creation of new job roles such as data scientist and conversion rate optimisation specialist, new ways of working such as location independent teams, and soft skills needed for managing and developing the wave of Gen Z and Millennials in the workplace means traditional education just isn’t providing what people need to keep up.”