With the rise of digital economy, the demand for talents with digital competency is soaring high. However, the latest Emerging Jobs in Singapore Report by LinkedIn suggested that while digital experts are highly sought-after, so are soft skills.
The report revealed that positions that require hybrid skills are in high demand, which can help local organisations navigate their digital transformation journey. Commenting on this finding, Vice president of talent and learning solutions for APAC at LinkedIn, Feon Ang emphasised that today’s digital competence is composed by a blend of hard and soft skills. As competition for talent will grow fiercer, organisations will have to build an adaptable workforce. Therefore, “real-time understanding of the demand and supply of skills, talent pools and talent movement is the first step towards building talent intelligence at scale.”
According to LinkedIn, the top five emerging jobs for 2018 are:
With data scientist is placed on the top list of most in-demand jobs, companies would be seeking for those with skills in machine learning and data analytics. Interestingly, while Singapore looks toward home-grown talent to fill this role, the modern workforce is highly mobile and open to moving across borders. The study noted that over 20 percent data scientists on LinkedIn in Singapore are from India, followed by 14 percent from France, The Edge Singapore reports.
The demand for content specialist roles, which were not as popular five years ago according to LinkedIn study, is also growing. With most contents are made in English, organisations are not just seeking locals to fill the roles, but also international candidates from UK, Australia and India.
Meanwhile, the financial sector has been increasingly investing in establishing a bigger digital footprint. Hence, this brings about the emergence of the user experience designer and head of digital roles in Singapore.
The top five emerging jobs might be related to technology, but on top of knowledge about the tech, these roles also require management and communication skills. Their actual roles are varied and diverse, reflecting a labour market that values talent with a hybrid set of complementary skills.
Ms Ang said, “Our Emerging Jobs Report highlights the reality that new jobs are emerging more rapidly than at any other time in history. Traditional roles have evolved into hybrids that did not exist five years ago. While it’s no surprise that the top emerging jobs for Singapore are all related to technology, many of them require management and communications skills making them hybrids of new and traditional roles – such as user experience designer.”
Additionally, the report suggested that owing to current global and local talent shortage, HR and talent acquisition teams would be required to evolve and innovate their strategy in looking for talents. As skills commonly associated with these emerging jobs are changing, hiring merely based on candidate’s title is no longer adequate and accurate in finding the best talents to fill these gaps.
Read also: Tech Roles Rule the Jobs Market in India: LinkedIn Report
