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How governments can help workforces emerge stronger from COVID-19

Governments play a crucial role in helping workforces unlock new opportunities as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates disruptions.


In brief
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified disruptions to businesses and heightened the need for workforces to evolve with the changes.
  • As the pandemic extends into a new normal, governments need to shift their focus toward supporting new job creation and growth in emerging sectors.
  • Governments’ future-readiness, labor redistribution, upskilling and job creation will greatly influence how well workforces emerge from the crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected economies and livelihoods across Southeast Asia, amplifying the disruptions to industries, while accelerating their transformation. For governments, managing this crisis is complex, given the competing priorities to balance the interests of different stakeholders across society, including businesses and individuals.

Certain industries are more vulnerable, while others have shown greater resilience. Accordingly, employment opportunities vary and shift across sectors. With many facing a significant risk of job displacement, it is important to leverage public-private relationships and opportunities for job creation to facilitate redeployment from “at-risk” to “opportunistic” sectors. How can governments enable the workforce to not only evolve with these changes, but also emerge stronger from the crisis?

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Chapter 1

Guide industry transformation efforts

Strong governmental support and leveraging multiple stakeholders’ perspectives can enable effective industry transformation.

Thriving in the post-pandemic world will require companies to put agility at their core and adapt to the seismic shifts in market dynamics. Be it through redefining business models, digitalizing operations, revamping supply chains or redesigning jobs, strong governmental support is needed to provide guidance and actionable road maps on how these transformation efforts can be achieved.

Some countries have embarked on this even prior to the pandemic. In Singapore, the Government launched Industry Transformation Maps for various industries over the past few years, detailing key pillars of focus for industries to navigate their transformation. These pillars of focus bring together perspectives from multiple stakeholders in the ecosystem, including trade associations and chambers, trade unions and institutes of higher learning, and are supported by schemes and programs that provide advisory and monetary support.

Given the ongoing pandemic, these sector-specific transformation plans can be further scaled to accommodate changing business requirements, especially for highly impacted sectors, such as aviation and tourism.

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Chapter 2

Support digital adoption

Technology adoption at the grassroots level can translate transformation plans and road maps into real opportunities.

To translate transformation plans and road maps into real opportunities, governments need to encourage technology adoption at the grassroots level. From implementing virtual collaboration tools to embracing e-commerce platforms, digitalization is instrumental in helping industries adapt to a market reshaped by the pandemic. Governments can curate and provide easy access to impactful digital solutions to support the immediate needs of companies’ new business models, as well as enable effective remote workforces.

 

In the Philippines, the Department of Trade and Industry launched Go Lokal!, an app that provides fast and reliable home delivery from local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This has provided MSMEs access to the business tools required for order tracking, inventory and product catalog management, and social media marketing, while introducing them to the fast-emerging e-commerce landscape.

 

The pandemic has highlighted the need for a proactive rather than reactive approach toward digitalization. Companies need to incrementally invest in new technologies to transition to a new digital future: one that is attuned to the changing needs of employees and customers, rather than the constraints of legacy systems.

 

Technologies that generate new tasks and new demand for human skills, such as artificial intelligence, collaborative robots and automation, should be encouraged. A growing concern, however, is whether the workforce is prepared for such changes. To help employees navigate new ways of working, digitalization efforts will need to be coupled with the redesign of impacted jobs. Governments should support job redesign efforts to not only assist smoother workforce transitions in reshaped industries, but also allow employees to step into roles of higher value, encouraging employee retention and safeguarding jobs.

 

Singapore seeks to address this through its Industry 4.0 (i4.0) Human Capital Initiative. The program provides step-by-step, hands-on guidance for companies in the manufacturing sector to trial i4.0 technologies, and redesign jobs and human capital practices to navigate the change. The Government has also refined support schemes, such as the Productivity Solutions Grant, SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit and Digital Resilience Bonus, to incentivize and support independent transformation efforts.

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Chapter 3

Enhance labor mobility and redistribution

Mapping transferable skills to different sectors and connecting individuals with the right opportunities will improve workforce mobility.

Digitalization will invariably expose the workforce to new risks. While leaders have been preparing for job displacement by digitalization, the pandemic has accelerated this disruption. A study by Cisco and Oxford Economics Data estimated that 6.6 million jobs across the six largest Southeast Asian economies will become redundant through more widespread adoption of technology by 2028.1 Accommodation and food services are two of the hardest hit industries, and will continue to face challenges as economies reopen.

In the beginning phases of the pandemic, the economic crisis demanded the urgent protection of existing jobs and industry capacity. However, as the pandemic extends into a new normal, it is time to shift the focus toward new job creation for the longer term. While it is difficult to protect all industries, governments should aim to protect all workers. This would mean placing less emphasis on some traditional jobs and systems to enable new growth in emerging industries. By connecting individuals with the right opportunities and facilitating redeployment at scale, governments can play a key role in allowing market forces to guide labor movement from industries in decline to those that are thriving.  

Mapping transferable skills to different industries shows the potential for individuals to reskill and pivot to where opportunities lie, as shown in the following diagram.

Graphic

Displaced workers need to be matched with new, complementary jobs in a way that is both swift and smart. This minimizes the depreciation of skills and morale loss from prolonged displacement, while building on individuals’ existing capabilities and experiences. By providing accessibility to jobs and guidance for redistribution of labor along with upskilling, governments can encourage a more adaptive workforce.

For example, the Adapt and Grow program in Singapore provides redeployment programs for affected sectors, such as tourism, aviation, retail and food services. Such initiatives are shifting the focus from subsidizing existing jobs to incentivizing new job creation. The SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package further encourages creative hiring through non-permanent and traineeship roles for experienced workers, enabling mid-career switches by connecting employers and job seekers through new traineeship opportunities.

Against the backdrop of Southeast Asia’s progress toward becoming a manufacturing hub, mobilizing labor could further serve as an opportunity to strategically focus workforce capabilities in emerging areas.



As the pandemic accelerates disruption from digitalization, governments play a key role in supporting labor movement from industries that are declining to those that are thriving.



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Chapter 4

Embark on detailed workforce planning and upskilling

Labor redistribution alone is not enough to address the growing mismatch between the supply and demand for emerging skills.

The paradox of high unemployment2 across Southeast Asia at a time of skilled labor shortage3 highlights the growing mismatch between the supply and demand for emerging skills — and this skill gap is widening with changing business needs. At present, labor redistribution alone cannot bridge this gap due to the uncertainty over workforce readiness.

To address this issue, governments need to conduct detailed workforce planning for each industry to identify key manpower skills and capabilities in demand. Major skill gaps can then be addressed through career coaching and upskilling to support both newly created jobs as well as the transformation of existing ones. Working with the ecosystem of industry players, labor unions and training providers, governments should leverage public-private partnerships to develop quality training opportunities, using technology and community outreach programs to make learning accessible and timely. The data-driven modeling of manpower needs, followed by joint public-private reskilling efforts to bridge skill gaps, can nurture a post-pandemic workforce that is future-ready and adaptable for long-term employment.

For example, digitalization of health care, food services and commerce will drive a shift in the requisite skill sets, and governments are stepping in to supplement existing workforce skills with those required for the future.

A survey by Kelly Services in Malaysia reported that skills in information technology, as well as digital sales and marketing, will be most in demand as the country emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.4 The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation has embarked on initiatives to upskill Malaysians, especially MSMEs and vulnerable groups in society, in e-commerce, cyber risk management and other sought-after skills. Similarly, the Electronic Transactions Development Agency in Thailand launched Young Talent Platform to foster digital readiness among young workers in the e-commerce era.

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Chapter 5

Model successful practices

Governments can learn from the pandemic to adapt their responses to changing workforce needs.

By applying lessons learned from their adaptations during the pandemic, governments can serve as role models for the business community and continue to adapt their responses to changing workforce needs. Vietnam’s Government, for example, has prioritized digitalization of its internal processes and systems to support digitalization of the nation’s economy. Initiatives, such as digital documentation approval, integrated platforms and digitalized public service delivery, have been implemented to help the Government improve connectedness and operational efficiency.

While views vary on the best way for governments to respond during the pandemic, governments should refine manpower regulations by identifying and formalizing practices that worked to continue driving efficiencies in the post-pandemic world. For example, the Indonesian and Philippine Governments have introduced new employee wellness policies and guidelines on flexible work arrangements. This highlights the possibility of driving efficiency, while maintaining the safety of workers, which can continue in the new normal.

The pandemic has impacted the world gravely and disproportionately. Governments play a crucial role in helping the workforce to keep pace with new opportunities or unlock them in the dynamic business environment. Clearly, the strengthening of Southeast Asia’s workforces will be heavily influenced by the future-readiness of their governments, and the use of data and technology will be vital to making informed decisions, improving transparency and building trust.


Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated transformation across industries. As employment opportunities vary and shift across sectors, it is important to leverage public-private relationships and opportunities to enable labor redistribution, upskilling and job creation so that the workforce can evolve and emerge stronger from the crisis.

Governments’ future-readiness will also greatly influence the strengthening of Southeast Asia’s workforces. Key actions include utilizing data and technology to enable informed decision-making, improving transparency and building trust.

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