Skills upgrading crucial to Singaporeans

Singapore - Eighty-three percent of Singaporean workers polled believe they need to upgrade their skills in order to stay ahead in the workplace yet less than half are happy with the training provided.

The recent international workplace survey by Kelly Services showed five out of six Singaporeans feel that upgrading their skills is a necessity as their current skills will be outdated in five years. This belief was shared by 3,000 Singaporean employees polled across all major age groups from ages 18 to 65. However, 47% of the Singaporean respondents say that the training currently provided by their companies failed to meet their future career needs.

Dhirendra Shantilal, Asia Pacific senior vice-president of Kelly Services, says the survey findings are consistent with the dynamics of the global economy. "The current economic environment has made people very aware of their skills and whether these will be sufficient to survive the recession and beyond, into a period of economic recovery."

HR professionals are also getting the brunt of the employee disgruntlement. The survey revealed that 48% of respondents in Singapore felt their HR departments are not doing enough to help them achieve their employment goals. However, eight out of ten Singaporeans acknowledge that the training needed to upgrade their skills should be the joint responsibility of both the employer and the employee.

Shantilal says investing in human capital in today's competitive market can become a key advantage for companies. "Increased competition for jobs combined with technological change makes it vital that employees are assisted to become even more productive, through the best training possible."

Some of the preferred re-training methods cited by respondents include industry professional development courses (47%), on-the-job training (30%) and acquiring of formal tertiary qualifications (15%).