Singapore's AI Skills Gap Widens as Demand Surges 70% YoY
Singapore's AI literacy demand surges 70% YoY, but only 1-in-5 professionals are AI-ready. A 3-to-1 talent gap forces employers to seek hybrid human-AI skills.
Singapore has entered LinkedIn's global Skills on the Rise rankings for the first time, with demand for AI literacy growing more than 70% year-on-year. Yet 41% of Singapore professionals say they feel unprepared for the speed of technology-driven change reshaping their roles.
Singapore Debuts on LinkedIn's 12-Market Global Rankings
LinkedIn's Skills on the Rise data, measured from December 2024 to November 2025, shows AI literacy has shifted from a specialist requirement to a baseline expectation across every major job function in Singapore.
The demand surge spans Business Development, Sales, Finance, and Education, not just technical departments. Within Engineering roles, adjacent skills including Prompt Engineering and LLM Ops recorded exceptional growth during the same period.
Despite this, only one in five professionals in Singapore demonstrate AI-ready skills, according to new data released in February 2026. That figure represents a direct contradiction of the 70% employer demand increase recorded in the same period.
A Confidence Gap With Measurable Workforce Consequences
The disconnect between employer expectations and worker readiness is creating measurable pressure on hiring. 83% of Singapore employers previously reported difficulty finding skilled AI talent despite an active labor market, pointing to a capability problem rather than a headcount shortage.
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LinkedIn career expert Serla Rusli stated: "Professionals who combine AI fluency with strong human skills, collaboration, adaptability, stakeholder management, are the ones employers are actively hiring for."
LinkedIn's data also shows human-centered skills rising alongside AI literacy demand. Employers increasingly seek professionals who combine technical fluency with communication, emotional intelligence, and judgment, particularly in roles involving customer engagement and organizational change.
Singapore faces a 3-to-1 talent gap as AI adoption outpaces skills development. Globally, 20% of employers cite AI model development as hard to fill and 19% cite AI literacy, displacing traditional IT skills from prior years' rankings.
Singapore's #1 AI Readiness Ranking Masks an Uneven Reality
Singapore ranked first globally and first in APAC on Coursera's 2025 AI readiness index, with approximately 1.3 million Coursera learners, roughly 20% of the total population, actively engaged in skills development.
Yet the same data period shows only one in five professionals demonstrating AI-ready competencies. The gap between learning participation and demonstrated capability suggests current training approaches are not consistently producing the role-specific, applied competency employers are measuring in hiring decisions.
Coursera's data also flags that women remain underrepresented in Singapore's AI talent pools, adding an equity dimension to the national skills gap.
Budget 2026 Formalizes AI Workforce Development as National Policy
Singapore's government responded through Budget 2026, introducing the Champions of AI programme for firms committing to enterprise transformation and workforce training. The package includes six months of free access to premium AI tools, a redesigned SkillsFuture platform, and an extended Mid-Career Training Allowance. Over 60,000 Singaporeans aged 40 and above have already benefited from upskilling programmes.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who chairs the new National AI Council, stated that AI "is more powerful, advancing faster, and affecting a wider range of jobs than prior technological waves." The Council coordinates AI missions across advanced manufacturing, connectivity, finance, and healthcare.
LinkedIn's five fastest-growing skill clusters for Singapore in 2026 are: AI, Machine Learning and Data Engineering; Software Engineering and Cloud Infrastructure; Strategic Business and Transformation; Financial Management; and Leadership, Communication and Human-Centered Skills.
LinkedIn's full Skills on the Rise report covering all 12 global markets is available via the platform's Workforce Insights hub.
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