Creative skills: A must-have beyond traditional roles, says SkillsFuture Singapore report
- Josephine Tan
Creative skills are no longer confined to traditional creative industries, with 70% of professionals in “non-creative” roles now requiring them for their work, according to a new report by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).
The fourth edition of the Skills Demand for the Future Economy Report, launched by Minister of State for Education and Manpower Gan Siow Huang, highlighted the growing importance of innovative thinking and original idea generation in sectors like IT, engineering, and business development.
The report emphasised that 40 creative skills, ranging from design creation and brand management, have become increasingly transferable since 2019, indicating a rising demand across various job roles. This trend is reflected in the workforce, with two-thirds of Singapore’s 150,000 creative professionals working outside traditional creative industries.
Examples cited in the report include software developers needing design sensibilities to create user-friendly applications and restaurant managers requiring branding skills to attract customers. This cross-sector application of creative skills underscores their increasing value in today’s business landscape.
The report also addresses the impact of generative AI (GenAI) on creative industries. While acknowledging the support GenAI tools like ChatGPT and Adobe Firefly can provide, Gan stressed the importance of ethical usage. Over 50% of creative professionals surveyed are already utilising these tools for tasks such as social media content creation and 3D modeling.
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Edwin Poh, Course Chair for Communication Design at Temasek Polytechnic, noted that accessible creative tools like Adobe and Canva have enabled professionals in non-creative roles to develop basic creative skills. This shift is prompting creative professionals to further differentiate themselves and enhance their expertise.
The report also reiterated the importance of business, financial management, people management, and operational excellence skills within creative industries.
In addition to the report, SSG launched an online portal with interactive resources, including dashboards offering personalised insights into jobs and career pathways. These dashboards provide data on job requirements, priority skills, and career mobility, empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their professional development. One dashboard even curates over 5,000 apps and tools relevant to various job roles.
The new resources also address the evolving impact of GenAI on jobs and skills, signalling a need for related training courses, according to Amos Tan, Chief Core Skills Officer at NTUC LearningHub (NTUC LHUB). He emphasised the importance of incorporating ethical and responsible use into these training programmes, reported The Straits Times.
