Firms now seek more specific skill sets in entry-level hiring: report

66% of companies look for AI tool certifications, amongst others.

Organisations in Singapore reported looking for specific skill sets from entry-level hires as artificial intelligence (AI) use rises, research from IDC commissioned by Deel found.

Fifty-eight percent of firms in the city-state continued hiring of entry-level talents, but with more specific skill sets, with 69% of firms valuing technical certifications and 61% looking for problem-solving and critical thinking abilities, the research said.

About 66% of firms look for technical certifications in AI tools or from coding bootcamps from talents, 59% look for problem-solving and critical thinking abilities, and 51% prefer strong communication and collaboration skills, the IDC InfoBrief AI at Work added.

Half of Singapore companies value the portfolio of work from entry-level hires, slightly more than communication and collaboration skills, which 43% of businesses require.

Despite this, 75% of Singaporean firms report growing difficulty in recruiting and training prospective leaders due to the loss of entry-level learning pathways, higher than the globally reported 71%.

Fewer on-the-job development opportunities now exist for junior employees, 70% of firms said.

Whilst the city-state ranked third globally in AI training programme investment, it has the lowest employee engagement in AI-focused training programmes (64%) in the region, registering only 64% of engagement, the report added.

Singapore is third worldwide (56%) in reporting budget constraints as a challenge in reskilling employees.

This is amidst 70% of firms globally had fully implemented AI, the IDC and Deel research found, which also observed a slowdown in entry-level jobs.