SINGAPORE: Companies that repeatedly tap public grants to grow through artificial intelligence while treating workers unfairly could face government intervention, said Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau, as Singapore pushes ahead with plans to become a global AI hub.
She added that the government is watching to ensure gains from AI adoption are shared with workers, especially when taxpayer funds are involved.
“When we spend public resources to help companies grow, then we want to have a bit more control over what the companies do,” said Ms Lau, who co-chairs the Economic Strategy Review (ESR) committee on technology and innovation.
“What we are looking for are patterns - if a company is constantly applying for and given grants, but workers are being removed without fair treatment. Then, when we start to see these patterns, we must act, because these are public funds that we are stewards of.”
Ms Lau was speaking to CNA on the back of the release of the five ESR committees’ recommendations earlier this month on how Singapore can steer its economy forward.
This followed nine months of consultations involving more than 7,700 stakeholders, including businesses, unions and workers.
The ESR’s 32 recommendations aim to secure long-term economic growth for Singapore and create good jobs amid rapid technological disruption.
It recommended that Singapore position itself as a “location of choice” where people can collaborate to develop innovative AI solutions, while ensuring workers are equipped with AI literacy and supported through career transitions.
Ms Lau acknowledged that companies will continue making commercial decisions, including cost-cutting measures, but warned against overly short-term thinking.
“The short-term desire to cut costs may end up affecting them later on when their company needs to think about further growth,” she noted.
“Perhaps they're looking now for staff who understand the business (and) domain, understand the business culture. They will not have such people anymore as their company tries to scale.”
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As AI reshapes industries and automates routine tasks, Ms Lau said young Singaporeans should focus less on chasing supposedly stable professions and more on developing capabilities that technology cannot easily replace.
“At this point, nobody can tell fully which jobs would be around in the next five, 10 years, but we are still very clear what capabilities are still needed in five to 10 years,” she said.
Among the enduring skills she highlighted were communication, judgement, taste and discernment, which she said are “unlikely to be replaced by technology”.
Ms Lau added that employers are increasingly expecting graduates to possess basic AI literacy.
“I don't think all employers are expecting graduates to be able to design and build their own agents, but I think many employers would hope that graduates, at least, can do writing, research, provide and present well-written reports with the help of AI,” she pointed out.
The ESR has called for a national AI workforce strategy focused on AI literacy, lifelong learning and helping workers move into growth sectors.
Addressing concerns that AI could eliminate junior level “learning ground” tasks, Ms Lau argued that younger workers do not necessarily need to go through the same repetitive processes as previous generations to build expertise.
Instead, she said cutting down on the "grunt work" could help young workers gain experience in making judgement calls earlier in their careers. That, in turn, could create an ecosystem of "a lot more experienced professionals" and valuable employees.
Ms Lau also stressed that workers should feel fairly rewarded when companies benefit from AI-driven productivity gains.
People walk on the street during lunch break at Raffles Place in Singapore on Jan 22, 2025. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
“Work should feel more purposeful than in the past. Work should pay fair wages - and when I say fair, they must be able to look at the company,” she pointed out.
“If the company is growing very strongly, making significant profits, the workers must feel that they have some share of it.”
In the future, graduates will find it easier to move across domains and “talk about their job experiences in a much more tangible and complex way”, Ms Lau said.
“Today, if a young new graduate goes home, talks to his parents about what they do at work - they may feel that I'm only doing this small part … but in the future, when they talk about their roles, it will be fuller,” she added.
While anxiety around AI remains widespread, Ms Lau said Singapore is already seeing signs of job creation in areas such as AI assurance and cybersecurity.
Singapore has been ramping up its AI push through initiatives including the National AI Strategy and the newly established National AI Council, which is tasked with driving the country’s AI ambitions.
Ms Lau said the country is currently in a transition phase with no clear endpoint, where many questions about AI’s long-term impact remain unanswered.
“We're in a very weird space … While you have people who want answers, the answers are not clear.”
Still, she encouraged Singaporeans to experiment with AI rather than fear it.
“We, of course, hope that people do what's within their control, pick up the skills, learn something, don't fear the technology, try it out.”
Ms Lau also pushed back against the idea that everyone must become an AI expert to remain relevant. Instead, she said jobs requiring empathy, trust and human interaction may become even more valuable in the future.
“There are a lot of jobs that I think in the past we tend to not think so much of -- people who do patient experience work, social workers who talk with the elderly until the elderly agrees for his or her home to be de-cluttered, all those cannot be replaced by AI,” she noted.
“In future, we may price these very, very differently, because they are precisely the things that AI cannot do.”
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She added that the government is watching to ensure gains from AI adoption are shared with workers, especially when taxpayer funds are involved.
“When we spend public resources to help companies grow, then we want to have a bit more control over what the companies do,” said Ms Lau, who co-chairs the Economic Strategy Review (ESR) committee on technology and innovation.
“What we are looking for are patterns - if a company is constantly applying for and given grants, but workers are being removed without fair treatment. Then, when we start to see these patterns, we must act, because these are public funds that we are stewards of.”
Ms Lau was speaking to CNA on the back of the release of the five ESR committees’ recommendations earlier this month on how Singapore can steer its economy forward.
This followed nine months of consultations involving more than 7,700 stakeholders, including businesses, unions and workers.
The ESR’s 32 recommendations aim to secure long-term economic growth for Singapore and create good jobs amid rapid technological disruption.
It recommended that Singapore position itself as a “location of choice” where people can collaborate to develop innovative AI solutions, while ensuring workers are equipped with AI literacy and supported through career transitions.
Ms Lau acknowledged that companies will continue making commercial decisions, including cost-cutting measures, but warned against overly short-term thinking.
“The short-term desire to cut costs may end up affecting them later on when their company needs to think about further growth,” she noted.
“Perhaps they're looking now for staff who understand the business (and) domain, understand the business culture. They will not have such people anymore as their company tries to scale.”
CNA Games
Show More Show Less
Related:
FOCUS ON CAPABILITIES
As AI reshapes industries and automates routine tasks, Ms Lau said young Singaporeans should focus less on chasing supposedly stable professions and more on developing capabilities that technology cannot easily replace.
“At this point, nobody can tell fully which jobs would be around in the next five, 10 years, but we are still very clear what capabilities are still needed in five to 10 years,” she said.
Among the enduring skills she highlighted were communication, judgement, taste and discernment, which she said are “unlikely to be replaced by technology”.
Ms Lau added that employers are increasingly expecting graduates to possess basic AI literacy.
“I don't think all employers are expecting graduates to be able to design and build their own agents, but I think many employers would hope that graduates, at least, can do writing, research, provide and present well-written reports with the help of AI,” she pointed out.
The ESR has called for a national AI workforce strategy focused on AI literacy, lifelong learning and helping workers move into growth sectors.
HOW WILL YOUNGER WORKERS FARE?
Addressing concerns that AI could eliminate junior level “learning ground” tasks, Ms Lau argued that younger workers do not necessarily need to go through the same repetitive processes as previous generations to build expertise.
Instead, she said cutting down on the "grunt work" could help young workers gain experience in making judgement calls earlier in their careers. That, in turn, could create an ecosystem of "a lot more experienced professionals" and valuable employees.
Ms Lau also stressed that workers should feel fairly rewarded when companies benefit from AI-driven productivity gains.
People walk on the street during lunch break at Raffles Place in Singapore on Jan 22, 2025. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
“Work should feel more purposeful than in the past. Work should pay fair wages - and when I say fair, they must be able to look at the company,” she pointed out.
“If the company is growing very strongly, making significant profits, the workers must feel that they have some share of it.”
In the future, graduates will find it easier to move across domains and “talk about their job experiences in a much more tangible and complex way”, Ms Lau said.
“Today, if a young new graduate goes home, talks to his parents about what they do at work - they may feel that I'm only doing this small part … but in the future, when they talk about their roles, it will be fuller,” she added.
Related:
JOB CREATION
While anxiety around AI remains widespread, Ms Lau said Singapore is already seeing signs of job creation in areas such as AI assurance and cybersecurity.
Singapore has been ramping up its AI push through initiatives including the National AI Strategy and the newly established National AI Council, which is tasked with driving the country’s AI ambitions.
Ms Lau said the country is currently in a transition phase with no clear endpoint, where many questions about AI’s long-term impact remain unanswered.
“We're in a very weird space … While you have people who want answers, the answers are not clear.”
Still, she encouraged Singaporeans to experiment with AI rather than fear it.
“We, of course, hope that people do what's within their control, pick up the skills, learn something, don't fear the technology, try it out.”
Ms Lau also pushed back against the idea that everyone must become an AI expert to remain relevant. Instead, she said jobs requiring empathy, trust and human interaction may become even more valuable in the future.
“There are a lot of jobs that I think in the past we tend to not think so much of -- people who do patient experience work, social workers who talk with the elderly until the elderly agrees for his or her home to be de-cluttered, all those cannot be replaced by AI,” she noted.
“In future, we may price these very, very differently, because they are precisely the things that AI cannot do.”
Continue reading...