SINGAPORE - Continuous workforce upskilling is vital to ensure financial industry professionals remain relevant as new jobs emerge while others vanish, a panel of executives from finance institutions said on Thursday .
"This is the course of human history, that jobs disappear when technology changes, and jobs get created. The reality is more jobs get created in this period of time than ever existed in the past. So we need to have the faith and confidence that other jobs will come." "We have been focusing a lot on upskilling and reskilling our employees to meet the ever-changing expectations of our customers, who are seeking greater speed and convenience," he noted.
Training also starts right in school, with Standard Chartered's work-study programme that allows students from the Singapore University of Social Sciences to spend one or two days in class and three to four days at work each week. The programme is in its fourth year and has benefited 37 students. "At regular intervals ask yourself how many of these tasks can be done by machine and if it's more than 50 per cent, you should reskill," he said.