Chart of the Day: Services jobs could surge 50% to 1.25m in 2030

And office supply isn't catching up with the growth.

According to CIMB, the ongoing shift towards higher value-added and land-efficient activities will inevitably move Singapore towards a knowledge-based economy. 

As the level of education among Singaporeans rises, the number of Singaporeans in PMET (professional, managerial, executive and technical) jobs could rise by nearly 50% to about 1.25m in 2030, vs. 850k today, according to projections by the White Paper.

Here's more from CIMB:

Two-thirds of Singaporeans will hold PMET jobs then, compared to about half today. To tap on this skilled workforce, the government sees an opportunity to capture growing demand for professional services in Asia.

For instance, it has started awarding qualifying full bank (QFB) licence to eligible Chinese banks and liberalising the legal sector to promote Singapore as a financial and legal hub.

All these will inevitably drive demand for office space. To meet these needs, the government plans to add more office supply in centralised Marina Bay (another 1m sq m of office space, up from the current 6m sq m) and decentralised areas like Jurong Lake (500k sq m of office space), One-North and Paya Lebar Central.