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Lack of jobs a major concern among students: UBS survey

SINGAPORE — The main concern among students polled in a survey conducted at the UBS Nobel Perspectives Live! Forum yesterday was the lack of jobs and ability to find gainful employment. More than 1,000 local university students took part in the forum organised by Swiss bank UBS.

The main concern among some 1,000 students polled in a survey conducted at the UBS Nobel Perspectives Live! Forum on Wednesday (Aug 30) was the lack of jobs and ability to find gainful employment. TODAY file photo

The main concern among some 1,000 students polled in a survey conducted at the UBS Nobel Perspectives Live! Forum on Wednesday (Aug 30) was the lack of jobs and ability to find gainful employment. TODAY file photo

SINGAPORE — The main concern among students polled in a survey conducted at the UBS Nobel Perspectives Live! Forum yesterday was the lack of jobs and ability to find gainful employment. More than 1,000 local university students took part in the forum organised by Swiss bank UBS.

Some 72 per cent of the students polled at the event said they were worried about not finding a job after completing their tertiary education.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth Mr Baey Yam Keng kicked off the panel discussion at the forum. He noted that Singapore is well on its path to be a Smart Nation and that every citizen has a role to play in getting the nation to where it aims to be.

For the event, UBS brought together four leading Nobel Laureates in Economic Sciences including Dr Michael Spence of NYU Stern, Dr Robert Merton of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, Dr Roger Myerson of the University of Chicago and Dr Peter Diamond of MIT.

The wide-ranging agenda included a discussion on the impact of technology and automation on the future economy, the need for changes in the education system, and global trends that will have an impact on the future of Singapore youth.

In response to questions on Singapore’s importance to the world, all the four Nobel Laureates highlighted the strong role they see the Republic playing in the global economy.

“Singapore is better positioned than any others to take advantage of a multipolar world. One of the top global trends that would impact the future of youth is the rise of Asia as a dominant force in the global economy,” said Dr Spence.

Elaborating on Singapore’s advantages in an increasingly uncertain world, Dr Diamond said Singapore is a well-governed country and the fact that it is small is an advantage. According to Dr Myerson, Singapore’s relative importance to the world will only increase, even as America remains an important country for the foreseeable future.

Dr Merton added that Singapore’s size gives it the ability to adapt to change as long as it pursues the right kind of education processes that would help make it capable of responding to change.

“Because of the way you’re trained, you’re capable of responding to change, to events that you couldn’t predict. And instead of being fearful of uncertainty, you look at it and say that ‘we are equipped probably as well as anybody (to face that change)’,” he said.

The Republic’s education system is flexible with the ability to adapt to changes.

“Singapore has made a concerted effort to create an environment of trust, and having that trust is enormously powerful for the sort of things that Singapore does. Trust is essential, because people will be willing to do things for you,” Dr Spence added.

On the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots taking over jobs, Dr Spence noted that technology is an enabler and by itself not something that could replace humans.

“AI as we understand it now is a tool, not a substitute. When we did empirical work before, we used to spend hours and hours just digging up data. Now we spend much less time digging up data and more time understanding it,” he said.

While automation can reduce reliance on cheap labour and stifle the Asian growth story, Dr Spence does not see it as a primary threat in Asia.

“It is a threat but not a threat primarily in Asia … Most countries in Asia are now middle income and above, and this is not an issue.”

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