To Bridge COVID-19 Skills Gap, Majority of Employers Open to Hiring Inexperienced Talent with Relevant Skills Training or Those with Accumulated Micro-Credentials

• 52%
  think that their companies lack employees with the right skill sets to
  achieve current business goals
• 67%
  say they are willing to hire individuals with micro-credentials or
  industry certifications to close skills chasms.
• 53%
  are ‘open’ or ‘very open’ to hiring candidates with no prior relevant
  experience but have undergone function or industry-related skills
  training, while 37% say they are ‘somewhat open’.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach –
17 December 2020 – As companies pivot and transform their business
models amid the pandemic, the skills gap has widened. In order to secure the
right competencies required to drive transformation, two in three (67%)
employers say they are willing to hire individuals with micro-credentials or
industry certifications to close skills gaps. In addition, majority of them are
‘open’ or ‘very open’ (53%) and ‘somewhat open’ (37%) to hiring candidates with
no prior relevant experience but have undergone industry function or
industry-related skills training. These are some of the key findings from NTUC
LearningHub‘s recently launched survey in The New Normal of Sector Skills
report. 

The survey, which was conducted online in October 2020 with
367 business leaders (senior managers or directors and above) and 567 full-time
employees working in Singapore, aimed to uncover the latest employment trends
and skill sets in-demand as the workforce settles into the New Normal.

In general, when asked if their companies have sufficient
talent to meet their business goals, less than half (48%) agree or strongly
agree, while close to three in four employers (72%) find it challenging to fill
the roles due to shortage of talent with the required skill sets.

The top three reasons which employers believe are the causes
of the shortage of talent include ‘remuneration packages not attractive enough
for in-demand talent’ (54%), ‘new technologies are outpacing supply of talent
with the right skills’ (51%) and ‘lack of interest from talent to pursue lines
of work in which there are talent shortages’ (49%). 

Across the industry clusters, employers from Manufacturing
(61%) and Trade & Connectivity (54%) are the most open to hiring
inexperienced candidates who have undergone relevant industry skills training,
while employers from Built Environment (68%) and Manufacturing (61%) are the
most open to hiring candidates with no educational degree but have accumulated
micro-credentials or industry certifications.

Commenting on the findings, NTUC LHUB’s Chairman, Eugene
Wong, says “Many industries
that were once flourishing have been hit hard by the black swan event that is
COVID-19, and many jobs are changing faster before. Some of the most in-demand
skills that we see today did not exist a decade ago, and the same pattern will
occur — the core skill sets that are essential in the future may not be
possessed by employees today.”

“Hence, it
is crucial to continually scan the horizon to swiftly determine emerging
trends, upskill and reskill to gain a first-mover advantage that will provide
more opportunities in the future of work. The first step is often the hardest
to take, and NTUC LHUB strives to help employees and employers take that leap
through our ‘think tank’ research endeavours that periodically deep dive into
Singapore’s market outlook, linking them strategically to the training
resources that we provide, for the most optimal upskilling and reskilling
outcomes.”

NTUC LHUB’s Director of Technical Skills Product Division,
Tay Ee Learn, added, “The pandemic has accelerated the need for newly emerging
skills across many industries, causing many companies to experience a mismatch
between the skills of their employees and the skills required to drive business
performance in the New Normal. In the past, many companies focused on hiring
employees with a degree certification. However, to plug the skills gaps, we
witness a mindset shift, where there is an increased willingness to hire
employees with industry-related skills training or micro-credentials.”

“Leveraging this trend, individuals seeking new career
opportunities can take up short courses to upskill and reskill as well as
accumulate micro-credentials that companies now value. We hope that the report
guides readers to reassess the market outlook, reskill to close skills gaps,
and reset for growth in 2021.”

To download The New Normal of Sector Skill report, visit https://www.ntuclearninghub.com/sector-skills-report-2020