The report also uncovers those employees working in Essential Domestic Services are the least likely to actively look for new employment.
More employers (65 per cent) look to augment their workforce, compared to a year ago (56 per cent) with businesses looking to 2022 with optimism. However, out of those who are hiring or intending to hire new talent, four in five (78 per cent) 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 per cent) actively looking for a new job. Most employees (60 per cent) are open but not actively looking for a new job, whereas 30 per cent 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 per cent), Manufacturing (83 per cent) and Essential Domestic Services (80 per cent). These include roles in Infocomm Technology (ICT) and Media, Energy and Chemicals, and Healthcare respectively.
Correspondingly, the report also uncovers those employees working in Essential Domestic Services are the least likely to actively look for new employment (only 6 per cent are actively looking), followed by Manufacturing (7 per cent) and Modern Services (10 per cent). 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 per cent), ‘satisfaction with the current pay’ (33 per cent), and ‘current company provides job security’ (24 per cent).
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. For example, to help companies overcome the talent crunch in the ICT sector, NTUC LearningHub has been working with employers in the sector to place and subsequently train new employees in both tech-lite and deep-tech job 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.”
