Singapore is the fastest-growing market for artificial intelligence (AI) talent in the Asia-Pacific, according to LinkedIn data.

The share of AI talent in the Republic between 2016 and 2022 grew by 565 per cent, outpacing other countries such as Australia, India and Japan.

The growth in AI talent hiring in Singapore also rose faster than overall hiring here by 14 per cent in 2022.

The fastest-growing job roles in the field include algorithm engineer and data science specialist.

An individual is considered an AI talent if he has added AI skills such as machine learning to his profile, and/or he is in a related occupation.

In Singapore, there appears to be a skills gap in data science, said Mr Frank Koo, LinkedIn’s head of Asia for talent and learning solutions.

“We look at the number of jobs and the outreach by recruiters with these required skills versus the number of members that we have with these sorts of skills.”

Specific skills that are in high demand compared to supply are data analysis, programming and visual analytics.

Other top areas with skills gaps here are web development and digital marketing.

Mr Koo said there is an increasing emphasis on developing skills among professionals and businesses, with seven in 10 workers agreeing that skills are more important than degree qualifications today, compared with two decades ago.

Globally, almost half of hirers on LinkedIn, or 45 per cent, are using skills data to fill open roles, as at April 2023.

“We are seeing members add skills to their profiles at an accelerated rate,” said Mr Koo.

LinkedIn members added 446 million skills to their profiles in the 12 months up to March 2023, up by almost 50 per cent from the same period the year before.

These skills can be categorised by industry knowledge, tools and technologies, as well as interpersonal skills.

“When you focus on skills, you can build new skills all the time… What we’re trying to do is help people develop a growth mindset by providing information, so they know what sort of new skills they can develop to make themselves employable,” said Mr Koo.

“Even in the same role, the underlying skills have changed tremendously. So that’s why even if you’re doing the same job, you still need to upgrade yourself.”

 

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