Singapore businesses lag in workforce resilience: report

A third of execs rate their teams’ skills as poor.

The city-state ranked 11th out of 13 countries in a global workforce resilience index that measures how businesses are building up teams that can flourish in the age of AI, according to a report by Kelly Global.

The report found that most talent strategies by Singapore firms are ineffective and poor workforce planning is holding back growth for more organisations. 

The workforce resilience index assessed the agility; diversity, equity and inclusion; and capability of the labor force.

Only 38% of Singaporean executives were confident in their organisations’ ability to be more productive, compared to the global average of 54%.

Slightly over half said the biggest benefit of AI was improved decision-making, but only 43% said that they had adopted technologies that required employees to perform effectively.

The report found that creativity and innovation were critical skills missing in the Singapore workforce, with more than a third (36%) of executives in the city-state rating their teams’ skills as poor.

More than 57% of these executives agreed that addressing these skill gaps is a top priority.

Less than a quarter, meanwhile, rated their teams’ support of mental health initiatives positively. 68% said they had plans to or are currently planning ways to resolve these negative aspects of their workplace culture.

The top three frustrations were revealed by employees to be: lack of career progression (33%); lack of skills development opportunities (31%); lack of autonomy over how they worked (30%). 

More than a third (36%) of employees also disagreed that their work-life balance was satisfactory.

The report surveyed 1,500 senior executives, as well as 4,000 workers at all levels, across 13 countries and eight industry sectors, including Singapore.