By Shukry Rashid
Kenneth Chua is the assistant director and lead consultant of the Future Jobs, Skills and Training (FJST) department in NTUC. In his past 20 years of work, Kenneth has been a digital and technology native at the forefront of business disruptions.
He has been with NTUC for the past six years.
LabourBeat: Will technologies like robotic process automation and artificial intelligence replace workers in the future?
Kenneth Chua: We are seeing a faster pace of digital technologies adoption in the workplace that will likely result in the creation of higher-value jobs in place of manual and routine functions. For example, the near-future workforce would have to be equipped with the requisite skills to manage the robots’ operations on a one-to-many scale and to diagnose and troubleshoot any incidents which may arise in the machines’ operations in line with business needs. Humans will increasingly work with and alongside robots.
Why does FJST exist?
Certain job roles that need laborious tasks and require minimal human judgement such as transactions and data entry are at higher risk of displacement due to technological advancements and global competition. As a Labour Movement, it is vital that we upskill and prepare our workforce, while they are still employed, for the higher-value jobs of the future. This is so that when their current jobs are disrupted, they can still remain employed and employable.
Hence, FJST was set up in 2017 with this in mind and functions as a strategic nerve centre to sense new and emerging opportunities and declining job functions so that action can be taken to enable workers to secure better skills, better jobs and better wages.
What does FJST do?
FJST has been producing reports and infographics highlighting the in-demand jobs and skills in sectors such as financial services, infocomm and technology, healthcare, engineering (in manufacturing), wholesale trade and accountancy.
We have shared with workers a call-to-action to take up available upskilling programmes to equip themselves with the skills for these in-demand jobs.
We have also held the inaugural FJST Forum in January 2018 to envision the future and inspire action among stakeholders.
A drone (top left) being operated by Kenneth during the FJST Forum.
This was done through the sharing of opportunities on the horizon for Singapore’s economy, identification of driving forces impacting jobs, uncovering specific action plans to transit workers from current at-risk jobs to future in-demand jobs and exploring issues concerning skills acquisition and how our learning models have to evolve so that we can prepare our workforce for jobs which do not yet exist.
Leveraging the findings from the FJST report, NTUC is working on the identification of jobs at risk of displacement in identified sectors and stands ready to co-create relevant programmes and interventions with tripartite partners and partners in our Labour Movement network for the progression of our workforce.
FJST has also developed a framework for collaborative action to change mindsets toward future-skilling. Stakeholders can work together at each stage of the framework to leverage respective strengths for greater reach and effectiveness. These include efforts to address information asymmetry, raise awareness, inspire action, provide holistic support, create positive feedback loops and encourage the flourishing of change-agent mentality.
What is a typical day in the FJST department?
Adopting a whole-of-LM approach, FJST, together with representatives from the unions, professional networks, small- and medium-sized enterprises, freelancers and self-employed, NTUC LearningHub and NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), work together to validate sensing of jobs and skills trends, identify training and placement opportunities and tailor relevant training and placement programmes for workers.
The team also works closely with partners such as government agencies, institutes of higher learning (IHLs), and consultancies to synergise and streamline efforts in identifying training and placement opportunities.
FJST Director Patrick Tay (left) during an accountancy sector roundtable session in April 2018.
FJST will then provide the findings to its partners and key stakeholders to enable the Labour Movement leaders to inform and mobilise union members and workers on the areas to upskill and reskill, as well as opportunities to move within and into sectors with anticipated growth potential or projected expansionary needs.
For assistance or enquiries, connect with FJST by emailing to fjst@ntuc.org.sg.
For more information and resources, visit the FJST website.
