Singapore’s Centre for Skills-First Practices to guide future workforce development

Singapore’s Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) launched the Centre for Skills-First Practices (CSFP) in support of the national SkillsFuture movement at the launch event on October 10, themed Skills-First: Embrace, Deepen, Convene. 

The CSFP was created to leverage labour market data to enable training providers design relevant training programmes, and empower employers, unions, individuals and policymakers with the tools to guide workforce development. 

SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG)’s Chief Executive, Tan Kok Yam, said this will be “our catalyst to help every individual in navigating their upskilling journey and boosting their career health with confidence, knowing that their skills – however they are acquired – are recognised, valued, and can open doors to meaningful opportunities”. 

“In a global context, the CSFP aims to position Singapore as an adopter of best practices in skills-first excellence, as we continue creating the frameworks and methodologies that other nations will study and adopt,” he added. 

At the launch, the CSFP also presented the Skills-First Readiness and Adoption (SFRA) Index co-developed with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Jobs-Skills Insights (JSI) report jointly developed by SSG and Workforce Singapore (WSG).  

These initiatives sought to promote the adoption of skills-first practices in Singapore, which meant prioritising skills and proficiency, performance outcomes and their application in the workplace. 

As part of these efforts, SSG also announced they would upgrade the National Skills Framework into the Skills Framework 2.0 by mid-2026.  

This new, more comprehensive and dynamic national taxonomy will connect the jobs, tasks, and skills from the existing 38 existing sectoral skills frameworks. 

With a standardised language of skills across different sectors, individuals could better identify skills-based interventions within and across sectors. 

The event gathered public sector officials, researchers, and industry experts in a series of presentations and panels that showcased Singapore’s move to promote skills-first practices across all sectors of the economy. 

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A collective effort 

CSFP’s representatives explained their mission to use data and global partnerships to embed a skills-first approach across policies, organisations, and workforce practices.  

Realising this required a collective effort across agencies and organisations to boost skills literacy and drive ecosystem-wide adoption of these practices. 

“With the launch of CSFP, IAL will work with partners to embed skills-first practices in the fabric of our workforce – shaping mindsets, aligning systems, scaling efforts, and building a shared ‘skills language’ that makes skills a trusted currency for opportunity, growth and competitiveness,” said IAL’s Executive Director, Yeo Li Pheow. 

The Skills-First Readiness and Adoption Index would help drive the conversation on adopting skills-first approach. 

The index was the first-of-its-kind to measure how well OECD countries were prepared for and adopting skills-first practices at a national level.  

It achieved this by leveraging data from international benchmarks like the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Future of Jobs Survey.  

The index comprised three sub-indices: learning ecosystem, talent recognition, and enabling environment. 

These components measure how well skills-first principles are integrated into education and training design, whether skills are properly recognised and rewarded, and if the country has the structural support for this approach. 

One of the aims of promoting a skills-first approach was to improve the functioning of the labour market, said OECD’s Head of Skills and Future Readiness Division, Glenda Quintini.  

According to her, focussing on skills allow mobility as individuals can move between jobs that require similar skills and fill in-demand roles. 

In Malaysia, a skills-first approach was also seen to help people identify areas for up- or re-skilling to pivot their careers if needed, GovInsider reported previously. 

Singapore ranked 12th out of 30 countries in the index overall and showed relative strength in the learning ecosystem and talent recognition sub-indices.  

Globally, only Singapore, Japan, and France have a digital infrastructure in place that recognises skills, such as the Skills Passport, noted Quintini.  

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Job redesign + re-skilling = talent retention 

The co-developed report by SSG and WSG- titled Realising the Skills-First Advantage: Growing Business and Workforce Together, found that all job roles were evolving, necessitating various degrees of skill shifts.  

For more than half the workforce, these transformations require higher levels of skill complexity, the report noted.  

In response to the evolving business and workforce needs, employers were actively redesigning job roles and implementing reskilling programmes, the report noted.  

SSG’s Skills Development Group, Group Director, Yeo Wee Siong noted that a common concern among employers was employee retention in the face of job redesign.  

The report found that more than eight in 10 individuals who undergo job redesign stay with their company. 

“My message to employers is that job redesign plus re-skilling equals retention and resilience,” said WSG’s Planning Group, Assistant Chief Executive, Tracy Lee. 

“Job redesign isn’t just about keeping pace with changes and innovation, it’s actually a vital strategy for talent retention,” she added. 

Identifying the skills to stay resilient 

To enable data-driven decision making, SSG has published two new dashboards for employers, talent providers, and individuals to gather insights on skills-development planning.  

The Job Requirement (Skills) Index dashboard, for instance, allowed users to see how skills demands are shifting among over 800 job roles across sectors.  

Employers can use these insights to inform skills-first practices in job design, hiring decisions, and performance management. 

The Jobs-Skills Profile dashboard helps users identify and consider acquiring from a list of 941 high-growth skills to stay resilient in today’s job market and prepare for the future of work. 

The list shows the top skills that employers look for in different job roles which enables workers to assess which skills offer the greatest potential for career mobility and long-term employment. 

“In today's workplace, success depends on what people can do; in the workplace of tomorrow, it will hinge on how quickly they can learn, adapt, and apply new capabilities,” said IAL’s Yeo.