Using five years of job posting data from 2019 to 2023, this chapter demonstrates how skill requirements of job roles, as well as use of digital applications and tools (referred to in this report henceforth as Apps & Tools) at the workplace have changed over the years. This reflects the changing job requirements for employees.
In this edition, the number of skill clusters was simplified from eleven to six to relate more closely with broad business functions and Critical Core Skills. The refinement of clusters allows for simpler interpretation of skills demand of jobs. With the proliferation of Apps & Tools across job roles in the respective work functions, a comprehensive list of Apps & Tools* is also curated.
The Job Requirements Dashboard accompanies some of the insights for this chapter.
At the whole-of-Singapore economy level, the skill requirements have been relatively stable.
The three largest skill clusters demanded across job roles are:
- Business and Financial Management
- Operational Excellence
- Organisational and People Management
The top three work functions that use Apps & Tools are IT (25%), followed by Engineering (13%), and Operations (8%), which make up 46% of all Apps & Tools required. Examples of Apps & Tools most required in these work functions are Python, AutoCAD, and SAP Warehouse, respectively.
Microsoft Teams (moved from 31st to 19th) and Microsoft Project (26th to 17th) rose in rank over the last five years, indicating that they were becoming more frequently utilised.
Notably, Wordfast, a translation software, saw a sharp decline in 2020 before recovering its position in 2023 (ranked 15th).
In 2023, the top 20 Apps & Tools comprised mainly of productivity tools, programming languages, and software designed for managing data, processes, and projects.
To view the list of Apps & Tools and their descriptions, readers are encouraged to refer to the Apps & Tools Dashboard.
IT and Engineering were the top two work functions driving demand for both general Apps & Tools and those related to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
However, Research overtook Operations to be the third-largest work function to drive demand for AI-related Apps & Tools.
IT and Engineering were the top two work functions driving demand for both general Apps & Tools and those related to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
However, Research overtook Operations to be the third-largest work function to drive demand for AI-related Apps & Tools.
AI-related Apps & Tools are those that contribute to the creation, development, or deployment of AI, leverages AI capabilities, or associated with AI in general.
The top three work functions that use AI-related Apps & Tools are IT (29%), followed by Engineering (12%), and Research (7%), which make up 48% of all AI-related Apps & Tools required. Examples of AI-related Apps & Tools most required in these work functions are Java, Python, and Google Analytics, respectively.
Most of the top 20 AI-related Apps & Tools had generally stable rankings between 2019 and 2023.
Most of the top 20 AI-related Apps & Tools had generally stable rankings between 2019 and 2023.
Some of the in-demand AI-related Apps & Tools were also among the top 20 Apps & Tools, such as Microsoft Excel, Python, and SQL.
Between 2019 and 2023, four of the fastest-changing AI-related Apps & Tools in demand were: Microsoft CRM (22nd to 14th), Amazon Web Services Cloud9 (26th to 15th), Microsoft Azure (35th to 16th), and ServiceNow (23rd to 18th). The adoption of these Apps & Tools suggested more employers were embracing AI to enhance work processes and using cloud services in their digital transformation.
Please refer to the full list of Apps & Tools and their descriptions here.
