Southeast Asia and particularly Singapore’s manufacturing sector is facing a skills crisis. Businesses contend with long-standing structural challenges — an ageing workforce and a STEM talent pipeline that, while growing, still struggles to keep pace with the Island nation’s immense demand for highly skilled professionals.
Policymakers have been clear about the scale of the challenge. Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong recently noted that Singapore faces the twin pressures of the rapid acceleration of technological advancements and limited manpower. These realities make it urgent for businesses to find ways to keep their workforces adaptable, resilient and future-ready. Already, surveys show that in 2025, 83% of employers in Singapore are struggling to find skilled talent, a figure that has steadily climbed over the years.
Against this backdrop, Rockwell Automation’s 2025 State of Smart Manufacturing report offers a useful regional perspective. The study surveyed more than 1,500 manufacturers across 17 leading economies. In Asia Pacific, 81% said they are accelerating digital transformation, while 41% are turning to AI and automation to help address critical skills gaps. These findings echo what we see in Singapore – technology is helping, but it cannot, on its own, solve deeper structural challenges.
Ultimately, transformation depends on people, adaptability of their mindset and skillset and their capacity to learn. HR leaders are therefore at the center of this transition, guiding cultural shifts and helping organisations reshuffle to address skill needs.
The Human Side of Digital Transformation
Technology may enable transformation, but people determine its success. In Singapore and across Southeast Asia, companies are deploying AI, robotics and data analytics, yet the biggest gap lies in mindset and skills.
The report shows that businesses are using digital transformation to repurpose existing employees into higher-value roles rather than looking at technology as means to reduce their workforce. This shift signals a more mature view that technology should elevate, not replace.
Making that shift is not easy. HR must ensure that employees feel supported as roles evolve. Successfully managing that emotional and professional transition demands co-creation of structured reskilling planning, transparency, and a sense of shared purpose.
At Rockwell, the EDGE Student & Early Career program reflects this approach. EDGE — which stands for Expand, Discover, Grow, Excel – gives students, new graduates and young professionals the “edge” they need to jump-start a successful career. Through rotational assignments, project-based challenges, cross-functional exposure and mentoring, participants build leadership skills, broaden their networks and gain real-world experience, ensuring our talent evolves as technologies evolve
Closing the Skills Gap with Continuous Learning
For years, the conversation around Industry 4.0 was framed almost exclusively in terms of connecting machines and enabling data exchange to create “smart factories”. Today, the focus has shifted back to people, enabling and evolving their capability. Employers increasingly value analytical thinking, communication, and collaboration alongside digital literacy.
The Rockwell Automation State of Smart Manufacturing report shows that nearly half of leaders now rate applied AI skills as “extremely important,” up significantly from just a year before. Cybersecurity awareness is also becoming a baseline requirement, not a specialist track. In Singapore, where the government has repeatedly stressed the need for a digitally confident workforce, these trends are reflected in national programs such as SkillsFuture, which aim to embed digital skills into every stage of a career.
Effective workforce development today goes beyond classroom theory. The most impactful programs are practical and portable, giving employees hands-on opportunities to apply new skills immediately in their roles, while also earning credentials that strengthen long-term career mobility. For HR leaders, the value of such initiatives extends beyond building technical competence. They send a powerful signal that the company is invested in its people. Employees are then more likely to stay engaged, adaptable and motivated to contribute to the organisation’s future.
Preparing for the Future: From Human Resources to Human Capital Advantage
If there is one constant in transformation, it is resistance. The report found that nearly a third of executives identify “resistance to change” as a top leadership challenge.
Resistance often arises from several sources, one of the key ones being communication. When there is a lack of clarity in vision, intent, and purpose, it becomes difficult for people on the ground to understand the ‘why,’ ‘how,’ and ‘what’ behind change. Without this understanding, change is more likely to be seen as disruption rather than a driver of progress and growth.
The leaders who will thrive in the AI era are those who embrace hybrid thinking. The ability to augment human judgment with machine intelligence. They must demonstrate change agility, adapting quickly to shifting realities, strong visioning capability while also practicing inclusive leadership, ensuring that employees across all levels are able to relate to and feel supported through any transition.
In Singapore, policymakers continue to emphasise that companies must support workers through reskilling if technological adoption is to succeed.
Here, HR plays a central role in guiding the cultural shift. This means:
- Demystifying AI by showing employees how tools can enhance, rather than diminish, their work
- Building digital confidence through transparent communication and practical training
- Driving adoption of flexible work models that support wellbeing as much as productivity – from flexible scheduling to tech-enabled job redesign and thoughtfully managed remote work.
Ultimately, the shift from “human resources” to human capital advantage lies in recognising that people are not a cost to be managed, but the greatest differentiator in a competitive market.
Hiring for Capacity
In today’s economy, technical expertise evolves quickly. What endures and what increasingly differentiates strong candidates are qualities like adaptability, curiosity and resilience. These attributes enable employees to learn quickly, navigate ambiguity, and reinvent themselves as industries shift.
Recruitment strategies are therefore shifting to focus on potential rather than qualifications. Career paths are now more fluid, with employees expected to move laterally as well as upward. For HR leaders, this means creating cultures where curiosity is rewarded, continuous learning is expected, and adaptability becomes second nature.
National efforts such as SkillsFuture and Workforce Singapore’s reskilling programs complement company-led initiatives like early career and leadership development schemes. Together, these ecosystems ensure that talent remains refreshed and future-ready.
Industry 4.0 is often described in terms of robotics, AI, and connected machines. But at its core, it is about people. Technology may transform processes, but it is people who expand imagination, resilience, and adaptability to turn disruption into progress.
Those who make these investments today will build stronger, more resilient organisations and position their companies to lead the region’s next wave of industrial growth. Future-ready talent is not a by-product of digitalisation, it is the foundation of long-term competitiveness.
About the author
Mei Li currently serves as the Human Resource Business Partner for Southeast Asia at Rockwell Automation. She is responsible for the delivery of business-focused people solutions in the areas of organisational effectiveness, change management, talent management, and employee engagement and to formulate and implement the people’s agenda, bringing strategic insights into their decision-making to navigate through highly competitive, complex, and ever-evolving business landscapes across six countries in Southeast Asia.
