Singapore unveils refreshed economic strategy with workforce transformation at core

Singapore’s business and government leaders converged at the Singapore Business Federation’s (SBF) Future Economy Conference (FEC) 2026 last week, where Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong unveiled the Economic Strategy Review (ESR) – Singapore’s most significant economic reset in nearly a decade. The ESR, which sets the strategic direction for the next 5-10 years, was born out of a recognition that the conditions underpinning Singapore’s past success have fundamentally shifted. Geopolitical tensions are rising, AI is advancing rapidly, and

the nature of work itself is changing. “We can no longer assume that economic growth will naturally generate as many good jobs as before,” Gan said in his keynote address. The review outlines three strategic imperatives: sharpening Singapore’s value proposition, becoming more agile and adaptable, and building resilience while driving competitiveness. For business leaders in the room, the second imperative carried particular weight. Protecting workers, not jobs Gan drew a deliberate line between protecting jobs and protecting workers. “We will not be able to protect

every job, but we aim to protect every worker,” he said, calling for Singapore’s workforce support to become “more integrated and more anticipatory.” The goal, he explained, is to build career bridges before disruption hits – not after – through integrated career guidance, skills assessment, training and job-matching support. He also pointed to the need for lifelong learning to become more effective and modular, with closer alignment between training and employer needs. As organisations adopt AI and automation, Gan stressed the importance of ensuring technology

complements workers, improves job quality, and supports career progression rather than simply displacing roles. Acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow, who co-chaired the ESR’s Global Competitiveness Committee, opened the conference by contextualising the review against Singapore’s previous major economy strategy exercise. Unlike the 2017 Committee on the Future Economy, which operated under the assumption of a relatively stable global environment, the ESR was designed for a world that is “more uncertain and volatile, more energy constrained, and one

that AI can ultimately transform.” The ESR is not a prescriptive policy blueprint, Siow explained, but a strategic framework the government will use to guide policy changes over the next 5-10 years. Business leaders weigh in on AI and talent A Ministerial Dialogue moderated by HSBC Singapore CEO Wong Kee Jee brought further perspectives from business leaders who served on the ESR Global Competitiveness Committee. Jenny Lee, Senior Managing Partner of Granite Asia and Council Member of the SBF, described the pace of AI transformation

as already redefining what a job looks like. She cited AI-intensive companies with lean teams generating significant revenue and profit – businesses that would have been impossible just a few years ago. “Jobs will not be lost, but the key is how can jobs be redesigned?” she said, calling on leaders to move beyond training programmes alone and look at fundamentally rethinking jobs around emerging tools. Lee also highlighted the growing risk of information asymmetry in leadership. In an environment where transformative technology partnerships are

being forged globally, leaders who rely only on familiar local networks risk being blindsided. “If you look at your local network and they look very Singaporean or South-East Asian, it’s not enough,” she said. Kerry Mok, President and CEO of SATS, spoke about the talent demands of operating at a global scale. Having expanded SATS into one of the world’s largest air cargo networks, Mok noted that growth has brought access to international talent pools but has also required a new kind of cultural fluency

from leaders. “You cannot take a Singaporean way and try to roll it out everywhere in the world,” he said, adding that authentic leadership, diverse teams, and the ability to give people the platform to make decisions were hallmarks of effective leadership today. Brian Tan, Corporate Vice-President and President of South-East Asia at Applied Materials, pointed to talent as the single most critical challenge in the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing sector. In an industry where the supply chain is too complex for any one company

or country to manage alone, he said the ability to attract and develop leaders who can set strategy, bring technology to the workforce, and embed the right culture was the defining differentiator. Skills support must go beyond training The panel also addressed whether Singapore’s existing workforce support infrastructure was sufficient to meet the scale of the required transformation. Siow affirmed that grants and incentives must increasingly be tied to genuine workforce outcomes, not just training participations. “What is good for their workers must be good

for their companies,” he said, framing SkillsFuture as a structural advantage that Singapore must continue to build on, even as it requires constant refinement. In his closing remarks, Siow offered a call to action on two fronts. On enterprise, he encouraged businesses to invest, innovate, and internationalise – not just to bring investment into Singapore, but to support local companies to compete globally. On AI, he said Singapore’s advantage lies not in out-scaling other economies but to out-organising them: building self-reinforcing ecosystems of talent, problems,

resources and capital that make Singapore indispensable. And on workers: “Our principle is not to save the job. Our principle is to save the worker.” SBF, in its own response to the ESR, called for transformation support that is “simpler, more joined-up and easier to access,” particularly for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looking to adopt AI alongside job redesign.

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