New Economy Skills 2025

CASE STUDY 3 SkillsFuture Singapore: prioritizing new-economy skills with a data-driven, skills-first system Context : SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) is building a skills-first economy by placing labour-market intelligence and a common skills language at the centre of workforce development. Public data sets, shared taxonomies and employer signals are used to continually refresh which skills matter most, so investments by learners, providers and firms stay aligned with fast-moving demand in the digital economy. Approach : SSG’s Jobs-Skills Portal turns labour-market intelligence into actionable guidance on the latest business trends including AI, data and digital, spotlighting high-demand, transferable skills so learners and providers know what to build next. It also highlights role-level expectations by showing the technologies employers currently ask for (including an AI- related subset), and highlights areas where these requirements show up most – IT (29%), Engineering (12%), Research (7% – which enables individuals to compare their own skills/ tool proficiency and amend upskilling plans accordingly. From 2019–2023, demand rose fastest for AI-enabling/cloud tools such as Microsoft Azure, AWS Cloud9, ServiceNow and Microsoft CRM, giving organizations and educational institutions clear targets for course refreshes and talent development programmes. The Jobs-Skills Portal democratizes data and insights and makes these available to everyone, from individuals and firms to educational institutions and training providers. Beyond insights into the latest skills and technologies required in different job roles in the economy, a dashboard on job mobility and career pathways combines skills similarity, wage demand and transition history to surface practical career moves into job roles with good growth and potential for career mobility, including technology-intensive ones. More importantly, it highlights the skills required for transition and corresponding training courses if reskilling is required and expands individuals’ understanding of learning choices and real pathways. Anchoring the data-driven jobs-skills intelligence capability is the Skills Framework 2.0 that SSG developed and is adopted across different sectors of the economy, allowing individuals, employers and training providers to better identify suitable skills interventions both within and across sectors. To support employers and firms, SSG appoints industry leaders as SkillsFuture Queen Bees (37 appointed thus far), to serve as sector anchors that rally small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs), provide skills advisory and curate training and proof-of-concept projects, spreading priority digital capabilities across their networks. Seeing the chance to embed change across the employer ecosystem, Singapore appointed these industry leaders to drive adoption in the SMEs from the inside out, turning market signals into practical, sector-specific action. At the industry level, the data-driven labour-market intelligence is used by SSG-appointed Skills Development Partners (SDPS) who work with specific industries to identify emerging skills, co-develop training solutions, and promote skills recognition through structured skills-based career pathways. For instance, one SDP , the Singapore Computer Society, has identified cybersecurity and cloud as two key trends and launched the respective Skills Pathways to meet the industry needs. Another SDP , SGTech, has partnered a local university to launch an AI Impact Series to boost AI business application skills for Singaporean enterprises. Results : Learners find the right courses faster, waste less time and credit, and earn recognized, stackable credentials that add up to roles with real mobility across sectors. In 2024, 550,000 people trained with SSG support; participation in AI/ cybersecurity/digital-marketing courses increased significantly from 34,000 (2023) to 96,000 (2024). Employers shift from reactive hiring to skill-based planning, job-skill matching improves, internal movement rises and dependence on external recruitment falls. Education providers refresh portfolios more often because they can see what skills are in demand, which lifts relevance and employer trust. In 2024, the Queen Bee network engaged more than 5,200 companies (80% SMEs) who eventually undertook SSG- supported training curated and delivered by the Queen Bees. These trainings take reference from the Portal’s labour-market intelligence, translating insights into hands-on adoption (e.g. digital masterclasses, AI mentoring and technology proofs- of-concept) that accelerate capability-building in the field. In 2024, more employers (24,000 enterprises, compared to 23,000 in 2023) supported more employees (241,000 employees, compared to 228,000 in 2023) to participate in SSG-supported training. The quality and relevance of the training has increased satisfaction of learners, with over 84% (compared to 78% in 2023) of learners surveyed confirming that the learning and insights gained were transferable to their work. For the wider ecosystem, regular and public skills insights align the ecosystem around shared priorities and steer investment where it has the greatest impact. Funding flows to priorities, gaps close earlier, and partnerships scale, creating a self- reinforcing loop (intelligence → tools → choices → outcomes → updated intelligence) that keeps the country focused on the new-economy skills that drive growth and value. New Economy Skills: Building AI, Data and Digital Capabilities for Growth 36