Driving Competitiveness by Closing Skills Gaps – Over Half of Employers Need External Help

• 75% of employers see the importance of carrying out regular
  training needs analysis for their workforce to drive the competitiveness of
  their business.
• 55% of employers agree that they need
  external help to assess the skills gaps of their employees. 
• 52% of
  employers believe that external assessments provide reliable and more accurate
  results.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 6 May 2021
– To remain competitive in Singapore’s recovering economy,
three- quarters (75%) of employers in Singapore see the importance of carrying
out regular training needs analysis for their workforce to drive the
competitiveness of their business. However, more than half of them (55%) say
they need external help to assess the skills gaps of
their employees, alluding that more help is needed by companies to carry out
effective skills mapping and learning, and development strategies.

These are some of the key findings in the
recent NTUC LearningHub (NTUC LHUB)’s Employer Skills Survey report. The
survey, which was conducted in February 2021 with business leaders across
Singapore, aimed to uncover the most in-demand skillsets a year post-pandemic.
The findings include the top skills by industry clusters: Built Environment,
Essential Domestic Services, Lifestyle, Manufacturing and Professional
Services, and Trade and Connectivity.

In
addition, when asked if getting their employees’ capabilities assessed by an
external consultant would yield a more accurate and actionable result compared
to it being done internally, 52% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed,
while 30% were neutral, 14% disagreed and only 6% strongly disagreed.

Commenting
on the findings, NTUC LHUB’s Director of Institute of Business Excellence and Healthcare
Academy, Jenaline Low, says, “With the evolving market demands and diversity
across different sectors, learning can no longer be delivered through a ‘cookie
cutter’ approach. We have observed that as much as companies are investing time
and resources into training and upskilling their workforces, many of them still
require help in their skills competency mapping and training needs analysis.”

 

“At
NTUC LHUB, we offer companies advisory services to support for their specific
learning needs. Working hand-in-hand with companies, we help them to be better
poised to capture new business opportunities through workforce redesign for job
expansion and enlargement. This is then supported by training needs analysis to
re-skill and upskill through customised training solution design and delivery,
and with back-end support such as funding and claims administration.”

To
download the Employers Skills Report 2021, visit https://www.ntuclearninghub.com/employer-skills-report-2021/.