{
  "id": 699077,
  "title": "Why HR holds the key to Singapore’s most exciting economic chapter yet",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/why-hr-holds-the-key-to-singapores-most-exciting-economic-chapter-yet",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-12T21:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Business Times - Singapore",
    "slug": "the-business-times-singapore",
    "url": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/singapore/smes/why-hr-holds-key-singapores-most-exciting-economic-chapter-yet"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Singapore has never shied away from ambitious goals, as demonstrated by the Economic Strategy Review (ESR) that outlines a plan for growth, resilience, and good jobs. In this climate of rapid change, the role of Human Resources (HR) has never been more crucial. Human resource (HR) management and people development are not just part of this strategy but are essential to its success. The rapid pace of change is undeniable, with the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 predicting that nearly 40% of core job skills will shift by 2030. Currently, only about one in five professionals in Singapore exhibit the traits of AI-ready talent, including curiosity, persistence, and reflective learning. While employees feel confident in their roles today, that confidence wavers when faced with technology-specific skills. These statistics highlight the immense potential for improving the lives of workers, organizations, and Singapore as a whole, and point us towards the opportunities ahead for those who actively pursue them.\n\nThe ESR emphasizes that the path forward involves embracing change rather than slowing down AI or automation to protect existing jobs. Instead, the focus should be on bringing people along for the journey. One of the most promising aspects of the ESR is its vision for lifelong learning to become an integral part of working life. This shift includes work-study programmes that blend classroom learning with practical on-the-job applications, as well as modular and stackable credentials that let workers build skills progressively without stepping away from their jobs. This approach to development opens up a creative space for HR leaders to collaborate with business counterparts in uplifting the full potential of their workforce. The idea of integrating learning into role design, viewing coaching as a valuable task, and celebrating skill acquisition as enthusiastically as hitting targets are becoming practical possibilities in forward-thinking organizations.\n\nJob redesign is increasingly central to how Singapore companies will respond to the ESR's call to action. Rather than waiting for the right talent to arrive from outside, companies like DLE M&E, a local mechanical and electrical specialist contractor, are looking inward. DLE M&E has tackled its challenges of manpower constraints, heavy administrative burdens, and uneven adoption of digital tools by restructuring roles. Instead of traditional manual coordination and paper-based reporting, project managers and project engineers now focus on digitally enabled planning, real-time data capture, and proactive decision-making. This approach has resulted in tangible improvements, such as reduced reporting lag from two to three days to under one day, a 20% increase in productivity, and the freeing up of capacity for higher-value work. More significantly, the roles have become more attractive, enriched in scope, and better positioned to attract the next generation of engineering talent. This demonstrates the potential of well-executed job redesign to create value, build resilience, support business performance, and ensure workers have the skills, support, and confidence to grow into reshaped roles.",
  "summary": "At a time of rapid change, having certified HR practitioners is not just good practice but a genuine competitive advantage",
  "key_points": [
    "HR management essential to Singapore's Economic Strategy Review success",
    "Only 20% of Singapore professionals AI-ready, need curiosity and learning",
    "Job redesign improves productivity, attracts next-gen engineering talent"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}