Despite more than half, or 52%, of employers in Singapore reporting insufficient employees with the right skill sets to achieve current business goals, not enough is being done to upskill or reskill employees, according to findings from a report by NTUC LearningHub.

The report showed that 32% of employees agree or strongly agree that their company provide them with the right training opportunities to enhance work performance, and 47% are not confident that their current job will be able to support them in their career growth.

The report, ‘New Normal of Sector Skills’ polled 367 business leaders (senior managers or directors and above) and 567 full-time employees working in Singapore with the aim to assess the adequacy of training and employment opportunities for employees across six major industry clusters.

In response to the lack of training opportunities to enhance work performance, 27% of employees agree that their potential is maximised at their workplace, and a large majority of employees, or 71%, wish that their company provided more support to help with the upgrading of skills.

Meanwhile, according to employees the 'lack of initiative from a company' is one of the top reasons that they do not upskill (34%). The other reasons include lack of time for training (55%), unsure of the skills to upgrade in (42%), unsure of the types of training resources (36%), as well as not knowing where to begin (33%).

On the other hand, while 84% of employees indicate that it was necessary for the employees to learn new skills due to changes brought about by Covid-19 to the business, 65% say they have been training their employees since the pandemic hit.

NTUC LearningHub's Chairman, Eugene Wong said, "The pandemic has made the upskilling imperative more pressing hence providing the right training opportunities for employees would strengthen companies' competitiveness in the face of future disruptions. Companies must transform through new business models but in order to make strides, their employees must be equipped with the relevant skill sets to deliver their new roles and responsibilities.”

NTUC LearningHub's Director, Institute of Business Excellence and Healthcare Academy, Jenaline Low said, "For those who are looking to jumpstart the upskilling of their workforce, it is key to invest in learning and development capabilities to assess and align the workforce skills requirement to the organisation's strategic business goals.