Youth urged to confront a changing job landscape

SINGAPORE — With disruption and technology transforming the jobs landscape in this “new world”, young people have to be ready to confront such challenges head-on and not take things for granted, Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said.

Speaking at a seminar for youth leaders at River Valley High School yesterday, he highlighted how people today tend to stay within their comfort zones, thinking nothing would change and continuing to do the things that they like to do.

He cited an example of how a radiologist’s job could now be outsourced to someone in Shanghai, for instance, at a cheaper rate and be done more efficiently by people “hungrier” to succeed. X-rays could be emailed to a team of radiologists in Shanghai, who may be paid less than their Singapore peers.

“So instead of 10 radiologists in a practice (in Singapore), you can have one or two who just has to check that the Shanghai radiologist got it right ... So what is it that you can do that can’t be done anywhere else?”

It is important to “be aware”, he said, as others are constantly thinking of new technologies, and young people would only have their own “brainpower” to help them compete.

“Technology is a great disruptor. It is going to change the way things are happening, it is going to change the world and you have to be adaptable,” Mr Shanmugam said to his audience. “If you sit back and say, ‘Why is this happening?’, you lose. You’re out of the game. You have to be prepared to face those challenges.”

In 2011, countries such as China, India and Brazil produced about four million graduates in science, technology, engineering and maths — a figure that is almost about the size of Singapore’s population, he added, saying that young Singaporean engineers would have to compete with more of these top-quality engineers.

He said: “What you think (is) a secure pathway or career may not be so secure ... The purpose of our education system is to train you to be flexible, tough, and react and anticipate the changing world … if you think things are going to be the same and you can make money the same way, get the same kind of jobs, you’re in for a big shock.”

Three River Valley High students told TODAY they are aware that they have to “step up their game” and be “flexible” to adapt to future changes in technology.

Chian Xin Tong, 15, a third-year student, said: “Technology serves more good than bad … we can connect with the world through email, phones … Even though we will face problems, and challenges are inevitable, we have to find ways to solve them.”

The Y.Lead Seminar, a platform for youth aged 15 to 17 to learn about global challenges, involved 695 participants from Singapore and overseas, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and the United States. Toh Ee Ming