Labour force upskilling needed as SG nears 'super-aged' status

The future growth must be productivity-led, said DPM Gan Kim Yong.

Authorities are championing the need for upskilling and talent development as its local workforce dwindles.

Singapore is set to hit ‘super-aged’ status in 2026 on the back of its falling birth rates. With this, the growth of the local labour force will slow down significantly, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong.

“This means that future growth must be productivity-led, particularly in the skills-intensive financial sector,” DPM Gan said, speaking at the Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF) 50th anniversary evening gala held on 13 September 2024.

Gan said that achieving this will be no small feat, adding that many advanced economies have only managed to achieve an average labour productivity growth of less than 1% per annum over the past decade. 

“Continual upskilling of our workforce is therefore vital to  achieve sustained productivity growth,” Gan said.

Amongst latest industry efforts include the launch of a refreshed suite of Future Enabled Skills. Launched by the ITF, it now includes horizontal skills in the areas of sustainable finance and generative AI aimed for financial sector professionals.

IBF and SkillsFuture Singapore are also working to build sustainable finance capabilities with real economy companies, Gan said.

Earlier in 2019, the MAS and IBF launched the Jobs Transformation Map (JTM), which reportedly helped authorities and stakeholders take action to reskill and redeploy employees impacted by automation.

The industry also launched the polytechnic talent finance scheme to encourage FIs to hire and train polytechnic graduates.