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CNA
10-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
'Keep an open mind': Economy taskforce calls on new grads and jobseekers to consider all opportunities
SINGAPORE: Fresh graduates may be anxious about entering the workforce given the uncertain economic outlook ahead, but they should keep an open mind and consider all opportunities, members of the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce (SERT) said on Thursday (Jul 10). SERT was set up in April to help businesses and workers deal with the impact of tariffs imposed by the United States. Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said: "We have heard, for instance, about these fresh graduates who may face anxieties starting their careers in these turbulent times. "We understand their anxieties, but we want them to be assured that there is support available." Singapore's Institutes of Higher Learning have also stepped up their support, while Workforce Singapore has introduced a career guidance service to connect younger workers with industry experts. "At the same time, I would really appeal to graduates and parents to stay calm," said Dr Tan, adding that he sees some "silver lining" in employment data. Employment rates as at June 2025 were 51.9 per cent, compared with 47.9 per cent in June 2024, based on a preliminary Ministry of Manpower study, he said. That means that as of June, the employment rates of the graduating cohort of 2025 are comparable and even slightly higher when measured against last year's statistics. "But the caveat, like I said, these are early days, because you're only looking at a very small snapshot," he said. Dr Tan also said vacancies for entry-level jobs remain steady. In the public sector alone, there are 2,400 immediate vacancies suitable for fresh graduates, including roles such as engineers and software developers, he said. The government will organise a public service career fair in August, he added. "To our 2025 graduates, it is still early in your job search. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind to different opportunities in their job searches," said Dr Tan. He urged companies to think about nurturing future leaders and invest in young workers. "While I think there will be some uncertainty ahead, I should emphasise that currently, we're not in a crisis, nor are we in a recession," he said, noting that the labour market has generally remained resilient, with more vacancies than seekers. In May and April, the proportion of firms with an intention to hire or raise wages in the next three months also rose slightly compared with the pre-tariffs period, he added. Besides expanding access to career guidance services for workers, the government will temporarily enhance funding support for basic human resources certification for companies. "Strong HR leadership is critical to help employers manage and support their workforce amidst the volatile environment," said Dr Tan, adding that more details will be shared in future. Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said employment and unemployment numbers are still very well maintained, but there is an understanding that there may be "a certain conservatism" about hiring for now because of the uncertainty. She said union leaders gave feedback that a flexible attitude is an important attribute for job seekers to have, whether they are fresh graduates or already part of the workforce. There may be concern about the outlook and whether it will worsen, but there are still opportunities, "perhaps in areas that people may not have considered so much before". SKILLS AND EXPECTATION GAPS The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has been paying closer attention to young jobseekers in this time of global uncertainty, secretary-general Ng Chee Meng said. This group faces four gaps in their transition to the workforce, he said. The first is a skills gap where youths feel they need upskilling to enter fast-evolving fields. The second is an expectation gap in terms of salary, work-life balance and job fit, while the third is an opportunity gap, with graduates concerned about how global instability and the rise of artificial intelligence will impact the jobs available to them. Finally, the experience gap, where employers often want candidates who have prior work experience. These four gaps are causing anxiety to students coming out to work, said Mr Ng. "I think these are valid concerns, and it's a sign that our young workers care deeply about meaningful, sustainable careers," he said. Reiterating Dr Tan's call for new graduates to be flexible, Mr Ng said there are opportunities in Singapore's resilient job market. "So we do encourage our young workers, our youths, to keep an open mind. Consider all the different possibilities and the job offers available," he said.
Straits Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
New Career Health SG initiative launched to support both S'pore workers and employers
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said he hopes people will actively manage their career health, just like their physical health. SINGAPORE – A new national initiative, Career Health SG, was launched on July 10 to support workers in accessing the right mix of training and on-the-job learning, so they can make informed and decisive career moves aligned with their aspirations. A new one-stop website, also called Career Health SG, was also unveiled. It offers both workers and employers an overview of the available support measures that can help them with career and workforce planning. The initiative was announced by Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng during the inaugural Career Health Summit 2025 at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, attended by more than 500 business leaders and human resources practitioners. The two-day summit, jointly organised by Workforce Singapore (WSG) and the Singapore Business Federation, seeks to have employers and experts exchange ideas on building a workforce that stays strong amid uncertainty. Dr Tan said employers play a vital role in building a healthier workforce, as they are best placed to identify the skills that warrant investment through employee training. He also called for employers to move to a skills-first approach in recognising and deploying talent, rather than fixating on formal qualifications. 'This will allow businesses to unlock even wider talent pools to stay ahead of the competition.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business S'pore to launch new grant for companies, expand support for workers amid US tariff uncertainties Singapore HDB flats less attainable in 2024 compared with 2022: Report Asia Dr Mahathir at 100: Still haunted by the Malay Dilemma Sport No pain, no gain for Singapore's water polo teams at the world championships World 'Do some homework': 6 key exchanges between US Senator Duckworth and S'pore envoy nominee Sinha World Trump's ambassador nominee to Singapore Anjani Sinha has a rough day at Senate hearing Multimedia 60 objects to mark SG60: Which is your favourite? Business Fresh grads should 'stay calm' in job search, uptick in hiring seen: Tan See Leng A Ministry of Manpower (MOM) study found employers who embraced skills-first practices saw faster hiring, more diverse hires and improved employee performance, he added. He also said employers who wished to invest in workers' career health but did not know how to start by following these three steps. First, assess skills gaps or jobs at risk. Next, chart a plan to help uplift workers' skills, and then execute the plan through structured progression pathways and skills-first approaches, he added. Dr Tan said MOM will introduce more resources to help employers assess the skills readiness of their workforce, identify suitable training interventions, as well as opportunities for job redesign to optimise the skills of their employees later in 2025. Meanwhile, workers will get to connect with career coaches under WSG's career coaching programme Polaris to chart their career journey, and find out more about schemes that can help them overhaul their skill sets. Dr Tan, a trained medical doctor, said: 'Ultimately, my vision is for career health to be the new normal – it should be as central to our entire career journey, our lives and businesses as physical health is. 'Something that is readily discussed and actively managed by all.' The new Career Health SG website can be found at WSG chief executive Dilys Boey told The Straits Times the new initiative goes beyond merely aggregating existing schemes via the website. She said the goal is to drive a cultural shift, where employers transform their business operations and workforce, and workers take ownership of their careers. New digital tools will also be launched under the Career Health SG banner in the near future, including one that helps employers take stock of the skills their workers possess, she added. One employer on board with the initiative is home-grown in-flight caterer Sats. Chief human capital officer Tan Chee Wei told reporters it is important to create fulfilling jobs with tasks that workers find meaningful, and help them discover a greater purpose, such as contributing to Singapore's status as a leading air hub. In a keynote address, Harvard Business School professor Joseph Fuller, who studies workforce transformation, spoke about the importance for businesses to help their workers ensure their career health. He said data out of the US shows that on average, 41 per cent of an average person's work will be displaced by artificial intelligence. Data also shows that employers are looking for a more diverse skill set when hiring for roles that are more affected by AI, and this underscores the need for employers to support worker training. Prof Fuller told ST that Career Health SG and related measures in Singapore are 'easily the most sophisticated, ambitious national intervention that I am familiar with in this area'. The sophistication lies in not just providing employer incentives, but helping workers understand what skills are needed for their desired jobs, as well as supporting career shifts for the employed rather than just those who are out of jobs. But Prof Fuller noted that employers, especially smaller ones, may remain cautious about diverting scarce resources away from daily operations. Both employers and workers also do not always act in their self-interest, he said. People 'often assume that (continuing) what they do now has no cost and doing something additional has a cost, and so they are inclined to try to avoid the added cost', he added.
Business Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Workers should future-proof careers before crisis strikes, say WSG, SBF
[SINGAPORE] Workers should see improving their career health as a form of professional insurance, especially amid economic uncertainty and rapid change, said Workforce Singapore's (WSG) chief executive Dilys Boey. The new Career Health SG initiative, launched on Thursday (Jul 10), aims to help workers do just that. Speaking to The Business Times ahead of the launch, Boey said workers should assess their skills and close any gaps before change is forced upon them. Whether an individual is five or 10 years into their career, they should take stock of where they stand and plan ahead, so they will not have to deal with the shock when change suddenly hits. 'We always say, you can't future-proof your job. But you can future-proof your career. That's really the idea behind this movement.' Businesses are also recognising the need to maintain their employees' career health, said Mark Lee, chair of Singapore Business Federation's (SBF) Human Capital Action Committee. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 3 pm Thrive Money, career and life hacks to help young adults stay ahead of the curve. Sign Up Sign Up This is as companies face increasing volatility, from geopolitical tensions to rapid advances in automation and artificial intelligence (AI), he said in a separate interview. WSG and SBF co-organised the inaugural Career Health Summit on Thursday, where Manpower Minister Tan See Leng officially launched the Career Health SG website. The new one-stop portal offers resources for both individuals and employers, from the recently announced Career and Skills Passport to SkillsFuture-related programmes and human resource guides. These are designed to support them at each step of their career health journey, said Dr Tan. During the event, he also announced that the Ministry of Manpower and Singapore National Employers Federation will launch an Alliance for Action on Advancing Career and Employment Services. This will bring together private career and employment service providers to develop innovative solutions to help businesses access talent. It will also explore new work models; strategies to strengthen individual employability; and ways to build a robust talent pipeline to meet employers' evolving needs. Boey said the idea of career health was seeded during the Forward Singapore exercise in 2023, where Singaporeans said that they wanted more fulfilling and flexible careers that evolve with their personal and professional goals. Just like physical or financial health, career health is about regular check-ups and action, she said. WSG captures the process with the acronym ACE: Assess, Chart and Execute. Workers should assess their skills and aspirations; chart a plan to close gaps or explore opportunities; and execute that plan through training, job moves or career coaching. Companies can also apply this process in planning how to redeploy and upskill their workforce, she said. The need for this has become more urgent, as skills are becoming obsolete faster than ever, Boey added. Companies can no longer rely on multi-year training cycles, or expect new hires to show up job-ready. Instead, they should upskill existing employees who understand the business and have the right foundational attributes. This is especially as top-performing workers and those at the bottom get more attention, while the broad middle 80 per cent may get overlooked. Career health must be a shared responsibility, she stressed, with employers actively developing talent by recognising capabilities and redeploying workers into new roles. Staying agile Career health is increasingly relevant to businesses too, in today's uncertain environment, said SBF's Lee. Companies are grappling with trade volatility, rising costs and mounting technological disruption. Beyond external shocks such as US tariffs, traditional business models are being upended by advances in robotics, automation and AI, he said. But in 'every crisis, there are opportunities', said Lee, who is also the chief executive and director of Sing Lun, a family-owned business whose interests include industries, investments and real estate. It is just a matter of how fast businesses can pivot and capture them, while helping their workers, he added. SBF has a four-pronged 'Skills-empowered Action Agenda' for employers: Recruit, Reskill, Redesign and Recognise. The first pillar, Recruit, focuses on helping companies hire better, including through skills-first practices that look beyond qualifications. Reskill supports employers in training workers for future roles. Redesign encourages companies to rethink job roles in tandem with business transformation, such as introducing automation or restructuring roles to allow for more flexible arrangements. Finally, Recognise is about celebrating both employers and employees who step up to drive transformation and take charge of their career health. 'If your people are your biggest asset, how do you ensure they're ready for the future?' said Lee, noting that companies must adopt this forward‑looking mindset to remain competitive.
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Time of India
Famous dictionary trolls Gen Z's new term ‘microretirement' — here's what it really means
Generation Z — or Gen Z, as they like to be called — know what they want, most of the time. And what's more, they are unabashed in asking for it and making their own rules, without compromise. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Time and again, this generation has shown millennials that the world is changing — and for them, work is just a part of life, not their entire life. But sometimes, it seems, Gen Z can take things a little too far. Recently, a new term started making the rounds: 'microretirement.' But is it really a new concept? That's up for debate. According to LinkedIn, the business and employment-focused social platform, micro-retirement refers to short breaks taken mid-career — often to recharge, learn something new, or focus on personal passions. While the concept is interesting and has gained traction within Gen Z circles, not everyone is on board. Among them is Merriam-Webster — the dictionary — which took a sharp dig at the trend. Merriam-Webster, from their official X account, called it an alternative definition for 'Vacation.' 'The word is 'vacations',' reads the caption posted along with an excerpt of an article dated January 1, 2025. 'While retirement typically occurs, after completing a career and saving and investing for it, a new trend is emerging among Gen Z career professionals called 'micro-retirement',' reads the first few lines of the report. Merriam-Webster particularly highlighted the next part, which reads: 'Micro-retirements involve taking a one to two-week break from work every 12 to 18 months.' This definitely got a lot of traction with almost 1.4 million views, with netizens representing both sides of the argument. One user commented, 'I typically go on micro-retirements 2 days a week. Then I work 5 days. Then I micro-retire for 2 days. Repeat.' Another user wrote, 'A while back, I saw someone claim we shifted from a text-based society to a video-based society, losing much accumulated knowledge and forcing a restart. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now That applies here.' But for people taking offence, the word is not just a trend, there is data backing it. According to Workforce Singapore (WSG), people aged below 28 – who changed jobs last year more than tripled to over 900, compared to 2021. Some Gen Zs are also switching careers much early in their career, with some starting their third or fourth job by the age of 25.
Independent Singapore
01-07-2025
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Unlike older workers, Gen Z workers are job-hoppers, ready to change jobs and careers
SINGAPORE: Gen Z workers are far less likely to stay in one company, let alone one career, than older employees. The youngest members of the workforce appear to consider sticking to one path as settling, according to Workforce Singapore. Today's young workers simply don't believe that old saying that job hopping does not look good on one's CV, or they just don't care, and, in any case, the working environment at the moment is very different from their parents' and grandparents' time. Channel NewsAsia (CNA) recently quoted Workforce Singapore as saying that the number of Gen Z workers who have job-hopped more than tripled last year. By age 25, some are already on their third or fourth job. To date, more than 2,400 young workers have enrolled for Workforce Singapore Career Conversion Programmes. In contrast, there were only 300 in 2021. Earlier this year, the global recruitment company Randstad showed that, based on a survey it had conducted, three in five (60%) Singapore workers said they would consider switching jobs if they didn't feel a sense of belonging. Unsurprisingly, this number is even higher for younger workers, with two in three (67%) saying that not feeling a connection with their workplace would be enough for them to quit their jobs as soon as possible. Gen Z workers, therefore, prioritise careers that are value-driven, and feeling aligned with one's workforce culture and having a sense of community are just as important as job title and salary. We also need to add the rapidly changing environment, especially in tech, to the mix. Workforce Singapore also quoted the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2023, which says that almost a quarter of all jobs are expected to change by 2027. Importantly, nearly half of all workers will need to acquire new skills just to stay relevant. 'New roles, like AI ethicist, sustainability analyst, or machine learning ops engineer, are always popping up. In this new reality, staying career-healthy means staying curious, adaptable, and ready to evolve with market trends and demands,' said Workforce Singapore. See also Survey shows many young Singaporeans still aspire to own a home On another note, trust appears to be more important to Gen Z workers than to older generations. In June, Randstad said that younger workers are less likely to trust their leadership teams at work than their Gen X and millennial counterparts. The company's 2025 Workmonitor research also shows that they are more ready to resign from a job where they feel they can't trust their leadership team at work. 'At the moment, 25% of Gen Zers don't trust their employers to invest and provide opportunities for continuous learning related to non-technical skills, such as leadership, equity, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) efforts, and sustainability. However, they may also feel that their company's take on soft skills is outdated, and doesn't align with what they desire,' Randstad said . /TISG Read also: Survey: 60% Singapore workers would quit if they lacked a sense of belonging; 67% of Gen Z wouldn't hesitate
