Singapore achieved full employment by the 1970s, but became a victim of its own success as the rising cost of labor relocated manufacturing and other jobs overseas and the financial crisis hit in the early 2000s. For the first time in many years, Singapore, which had no unemployment benefits, was facing an unemployment crisis.

The Singapore Government was quick to act, and in 2003 formed the Singapore Workforce Development Agency to tackle the problem head on. I was hired to help execute strategies to increase national skill levels and the national competitive advantage.

We did this by working with three different groups: the workers themselves, employers from key sectors, and training providers. Our vision was the creation of a culture of lifelong learning, where workers were able to increase their skills levels to have a fulfilling career, within a framework supported by employers through training and job redesign.

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Simply put, a better skilled job would be a better paid job, and companies that were investing in a pipeline of workers were less likely to ship jobs overseas.

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A major issue was that a lot of the newly unemployed workers were middle-aged and above. They had grown up alongside Singapore’s economic boom, and even without formal qualifications had been able to raise families with well-paying jobs. When those jobs vanished, employers weren’t keen on hiring less-qualified, older workers.

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From the outset, we were honest with people and offered away forward. Some of the jobs that were lost to India and China were never going to come back. Rather than taking the Western approach of paying welfare to whole batches of workers, we’d work with unions and industry leaders to refine the skills levels of workers to attain more value-added jobs, or help them switch to sectors with better prospects through career conversion programs. For example, an ageing society and a growth in medical tourism spurred a strong and flourishing healthcare sector, and thus, created new job opportunities.

Staff at WDA worked closely with industry partners to map their present and future needs, and developed a system called Workforce Skills Qualifications in key sectors such as retail, tourism, aerospace, healthcare, precision engineering etc. Working with training providers and backed by employers, this system provided workers with the skills they needed to get ahead in any field, and to move up the career ladder.

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We formed working groups with unions, industry associations ,and leading players to make sure that the needs of all parties were understood, and that policy and qualifications represented the most comprehensive approach.

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Alongside this strategic planning, the next challenge was changing attitudes. Many older workers were afraid of going back to training or switching careers, and some employers didn’t want to hire older workers.

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To rectify this problem, I launched two major campaigns. Firstly, we did a major campaign to both promote older workers to employers, and to encourage older workers that they could pick up new skills. I sought out like-minded companies and their older employers, conducted interviews and photoshoots, and ran advertisements on buses and bus-stops, radio and TV telling real stories.

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We sought to highlight the positive attributes of older workers, especially their soft skills, and to encourage employers to hire and retain older workers. At the same time, the advertisements reminded older employees of the importance of upgrading their skills and staying adaptable to new work environments.

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The older workers themselves appreciated the opportunity to tell their stories, and it really encouraged others, generating media coverage and discussions in the community. Focus groups helped us refine the campaign and think of new strategies.

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The other major plank was the Singapore Learning Festival, an annual event that sought to promote lifelong learning. When I was first hired by WDA, I had to roleplay the visiting Singapore Prime Minister in the dress rehearsal for the launch event. I was given a great guided tour of the exhibits and interacted with workers and employers from various sectors who had been selected to meet the PM. However, over the ensuing days, visitors were just met with poster boards and sign-up tables at the exhibits.

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Put in charge of the next year’s festival, I set to make it as interactive and useful as possible so every visitor could have the experience the ‘Prime Minister’ did.

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We used the first day of the event to launch the new Workforce Skills Qualification, with the first batch of graduates receiving their certificates from the Minister of Manpower, and ensuring we got excellent media coverage.

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Held at Singapore’s largest convention space over three days, we worked to create zones for each key industry, including retail, finance, and healthcare. We created interactive, informative games at each, had workers and employers on hand to take questions, and featured informative exhibits that aimed to change the narrative of each sector.

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At the time, some people looked down on the retail industry, thinking it provided low-paid jobs, such as cashiers without prospects. We setup a point-of-sales system and a basket of goods so visitors could try it out for themselves, see who could scan the and demonstrate the important role of retail employees.

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We also prominently displayed the skills ladder developed for retail through the WSQ framework and how much prospective workers could expect to earn at each employment level.  As a result, these future workers could envision career path and earnings beyond cashier or shelf stacker to become a supervisor, store or even regional manager. Even if the pay of an entry level job were low, the prospects for more money were clear.

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Over the three days of the festival, we were able to attract50,000 people, employers were able to take job applications on site, and our participants’ survey demonstrated the change in attitudes it had brought about.

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The key lesson for me is that a country facing challenging economic headwinds can choose to invest in welfare, or it can make a strategic investment in the long-term competitiveness and employability of its workers. Singapore once again showed that the latter can bring success for all parties involved.