Talent & Tech Asia Summit 2024
human resources online

Digital training firm General Assembly sets up new office in Singapore's CBD

On Tuesday evening (30 April), global education company General Assembly (GA), a part of The Adecco Group, officially launched its expanded campus in Singapore's central business district.

In line with Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore's (IMDA) projections on demand for infocomm professionals in Singapore growing by 28,500 from 2018 to 2020, this new office (and accompanying campus) will provide classes and resources in technology, data and design.

These classes will span 10-12 weeks, either in the form of immersive full-time programmes aimed at career changers, or part-time courses aimed at those who wish to upskill.

Further, GA will continue to work with the IMDA on its Tech Immersion and Placement Programme (TIPP), under the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) initiative, which aims to convert non-ICT professionals into industry-ready ICT professionals. They will be placed into tech job roles, after undergoing a short training course, or mentorship and coaching programme, delivered by industry practitioners.

Speaking to Human Resources at the launch event, Jake Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer, General Assembly, emphasised the need for these skills not just in Singapore, but around the world.

He said: "This is one of the things that makes this moment in time so unique, every company and every industry is going through some form of digital transformation. And they are all looking for the same talent - software developers, data scientists, etc., and there's just simply not enough of them. So, this represents a huge opportunity for people looking for either new career opportunities, or to shift their career ladder in.

"If you look towards the future, and the fact that every company has multi-year plans to turn themselves into a data-driven software company in one way or another, the truth is, if you look at the hiring projections over the next five years, the shortage globally is in the millions and millions of workers that today, don’t exist in the world."

The event was graced by Minister of State, Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Manpower Zaqy Mohamad, who highlighted the demands for such skills, noting that this skill gap is expected to widen. He added: "This means that businesses who only depend on hiring ready talent will find themselves facing a very tight labour market."

What this means, according to him, is that employers have to get better at upskilling their employees in order to preserve the company's culture and industry knowledge, as well as identifying new hires who "may not have the complete skillset required, but can be trained to do the job."

Photo / Journalist's own

Follow us on Telegram and on Instagram @humanresourcesonline for all the latest HR and manpower news from around the region!

Free newsletter

Get the daily lowdown on Asia's top Human Resources stories.

We break down the big and messy topics of the day so you're updated on the most important developments in Asia's Human Resources development – for free.

subscribe now open in new window