Singapore's economy will need another 1.2 million digitally skilled workers by 2025 and this would be a 55 per cent jump from the present 2.2 million, according to a survey.
The study conducted by Amazon Web Services in Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea yesterday looked at how workers may be affected by future digital skills challenges.
Out of a sample size of more than 3,000 respondents across the six countries, 543 were surveyed in Singapore, the digital skills report said.
Right now, more than six in 10 (63 per cent) of Singapore workers already apply digital skills in their jobs, placing the country in second place among these six economies. Australia came in first, slightly ahead at 64 per cent, the survey showed.
About one in five workers — 22 per cent — apply advanced digital skills, the highest among the six countries studied. South Korea is in second place in this area at 21 per cent, it said.
India will need nine times as many digital workers by 2025 as it has currently. The report stated that only 12% of India’s total workforce is employed in the digital sector. However, it has the highest proportion of digitally skilled workers applying advanced digital skills at 71 per cent.
The study categorised basic digital skills as being able to communicate using digital mediums, to use basic digital software and data analysis tools, and to apply basic data privacy principles.
Advanced skills include data mining knowledge, using digital tools to streamline work processes and creating large-scale data models.