Study: 53% Singaporeans reskilling to stay relevant amidst AI revolution

Singaporeans might not be keeping pace with the global push towards generative AI (gen AI) adoption. Despite gen AI's widespread potential to revolutionise industries, only 53% of Singaporean talent are willing to reskill to stay relevant. This is significantly lower than the average of 63% across Southeast Asia (SEA). 

Overall, 41% of Singaporean talent would only consider reskilling only if necessary, compared to their counterparts in SEA (32%). This reluctance to embrace reskilling comes at a time when the use of gen AI in both professional and personal context is on the rise, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group, The Network and The Stepstone Group. 

The report revealed that while 60% of Singaporean talent have tried gen AI in their work of personal life, only 43% use it monthly. Meanwhile, 40% of Singaporean talent still remail unfamiliar with gen AI's capabilities. 

Don't miss: Study: APAC consumers embrace AI, but anxious about data privacy 

Despite a reluctance to reskill, Singaporean talent have concerns about the effects of gen AI with regards to job security, and displacement of roles, with only 19% believing gen AI will not affect their job. Further, 22% of Singaporean talent also expect major impacts that will eliminate or transforms their jobs significantly. This is slightly lower compared to the regional figure of 29%. 

Conversely, Singaporeans recognise that gen AI has benefits such as reducing non-essential tasks (60%) and improve work quality (45%). Yet, its use for meeting deadlines and improving speed remains underutilised (32%). 

What's holding back Singaporeans?

When it comes to fully leveraging gen AI's capabilities, 37% cite that difficulties in writing prompts and having a lack of skills is a significant roadblock. This figure is notably higher than the regional average of 33% and the global average of 30%, said the report. This suggests that Singaporean workers lack the necessary skills or support in utilising gen AI. 

Singaporeans are also more focused on traditional skills as improving analytical skills (46%), functional and job-specific skills (35%) and project management (27%). Meanwhile, advanced digital skills such as software development and AI as well as understanding new trends rank much lower in priority, at 22% and 19% respectively. 

On the other hand, Singapore businesses are citing high costs as a key challenge in tech adoption. 

Currently, 94% of Singapore businesses have overwhelmingly recognised the importance of digital transformation. Businesses that have embarked on their digital transformation journey said they have seen an improvement in business performance in terms of optimising operations (67%), reducing operation costs (58%) and enhancing employee collaboration and remote work channels (49%). This is according to survey results by Singapore Business Federation’s (SBF) national business survey (NBS) 2024 – smart-enabled businesses edition. 

However, an increased number of companies cited high cost (73%), expensive licensing (47%) and upskilling of staff (47%) as a key challenge in technology adoption. While SMEs are more challenged with licensing payments (47%) over upskilling of staff (44%), large companies cited upskilling (57%) as a bigger challenge than licensing payments (45%).

Looking forward, emerging technology, such as AI (70%), and cybersecurity (68%) are considered the top trends likely to impact businesses in the next 13 months. Riding on the trends in AI, AI is used mostly in process automation for operations, cybersecurity defence and customer data analytics.

Related articles:  
Study: 73% of SG businesses see high costs as key challenge in tech adoption  
Study: 80% of consumers likely to switch brands that rely on AI-generated emails  
Study: 60% of APAC customers trust organisations that use gen AI