Job-skills integrator to future-proof Singapore’s wholesale trade sector

From selling a wide range of goods to businesses and organisations to streamlining distribution, the wholesale trade sector is the largest services sector in Singapore. 

Yet, rapid digital advancements and increasing sustainability requirements are challenging the wholesale trade sector to stay competitive. 

With e-commerce and automation on the rise, the wholesale trade sector increasingly needs workers equipped with skills to perform tasks like data analytics, manage online marketing, and adapt to changes in warehousing and logistics. 

A newly announced Jobs-Skills Integrator for Wholesale Trade (JSIT-WST) aims to help companies bridge this skills gap and find training and talent-related resources to keep pace with these challenges. 

Led by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), the initiative will support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in job redesign to enhance workforce productivity and in job matching to improve capabilities and close skills gaps. 

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 “We aim to engage more than 1,700 companies, support more than 1,200 job placements [and] reskill and upskill around 1,600 workers in the industry,” said SBF’s Chief Executive Officer, Kok Ping Soon, in a press release. He added that the SBF’s industry partners will assist companies in enhancing their human capital capabilities. 

The JSIT-WST initiative, first announced at Budget 2023, was launched recently by Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Culture, Community and Youth, Alvin Tan, at the inaugural Workforce Transformation for Wholesale Trade Sector event. 

The initiative is supported by Workforce Singapore (WSG) and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG). 

Workforce transformation  

Workforce Singapore’s Chief Executive, Dilys Boey, said that the JSIT-WST initiative will enable companies in the sector “to equip the existing workforce with new capability in digitalisation, trade regulations or sustainability.” 

The initiative builds on the Jobs Transformation Map for Wholesale Trade, which delineates the trends and resources required for the sector to remain relevant amidst rapid changes in digitalisation, automation, and sustainability challenges. 

The initiative aims to provide a “centralised touchpoint” for companies to access resources targeted to transforming and upskilling talents, SBF announced.  

For instance, SBF’s pool of Job Skills Advisors (JSAs) will work with companies and workers to provide custom advisory and training services to identify and address upskilling and reskilling needs. 

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The initiative will adopt human resources analytics tools to identify employees’ jobs and skills gaps and tapon technology like artificial intelligence (AI) to attract new talent with relevant skills and implement it as a job-matching tool for hiring support. 

“As new technologies and opportunities emerge, it is important that the sector keeps pace with these developments to remain competitive,” said Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) Assistant Managing Director for Trade and Connectivity, Lee Pak Sing. 

The JSIT-WST will also provide services to help companies redesign jobs and enhance agility for workers, with the backing of training providers and employment agencies. 

Lee encouraged wholesale trade SMEs and workers seeking to embark on workforce transformation to tap into the support of the SBF and its industry partners through the JSIT initiative. 

Strengthening the wholesale trade sector 

The SBF and EnterpriseSG will co-chair the initiative’s advisory committee, comprised of public and private sector representatives to support the strategy and implementation of the programme, Kok said. 

The committee will also provide insights into the talent needs of the wholesale trade sector and ensure alignment of the JSIT-WST with wider government efforts to promote its growth. The wholesale sector accounted for 18.6 per cent of Singapore’s nominal value-added in 2022. 

EnterpriseSG Assistant Managing Director for Trade and Connectivity, Lee Pak Sing, noted that the initiative can support the competitiveness of “the largest contributor to Singapore’s economy.”