According to the latest Workmonitor report from Randstad:

• Nine out of ten employees from Singapore think that nowadays employers make higher demands on employees’ competences than five years ago.
• The vast majority believes that social skills (85%), digital skills (90%), education (84%) and experience (80%) are now more important to employers than in the past.
• Three quarters of the employees in Singapore (76%) experienced significant changes in their job requirements in the past five years.
• Eight out of ten people in Singapore (80%) expects their job requirements to become more demanding in the future. Almost half of the Singapore people (47%) are afraid to be unable to meet their job requirements in due time.
• 94% of the people from Singapore believe experience will become more important in their position.
• The survey also revealed that more than half (56%) of employees are not satisfied with their employers, the highest in the world; and one quarter of employees changed jobs in the last six months.

Country Director of Randstad Singapore, Mr Michael Smith, said the findings are not surprising as employees are now expected to work across multiple functions.

High performance to cope with demanding jobs

“Organisations are becoming flatter and leaner, so employees need to be high-performing and wear several hats. Business leaders value employees who have varied skills and can jump on board to assist when the need arises,” said Michael.

Keeping up with continuous up-skilling

“In today’s fast-evolving world, skills and knowledge can quickly become outdated. Therefore it’s necessary for employees to proactively update their competencies to continue to be an expert in their chosen field.

“There are many options available to enhance your skills. Employees can look for existing training opportunities within their company, or sign up to external courses. Getting a mentor is a good way to get guidance to help you progress your career.”

What else matters to employees?

“In addition to good salary and remuneration packages, employees in Singapore value up-skilling and career development opportunities.

“By providing employees with relevant training to help advance their career, companies will not only fill the gaps for in-demand skills and build a leadership pipeline for the next phase of business growth, but also keep employees satisfied and engaged, lowering the staff turnover rate.”