INTHEBLACK July 2026 - Magazine - Page 46
F E AT U R E
“While apprenticeships and trades remain vital, we are
also focused on supporting upskilling across a wide range
of sectors, including professional, technical and digital fields.
As automation and AI reshape jobs, New Zealanders need
to be able to keep learning, adapt and move into new and
higher-value opportunities.”
THE HONOURABLE PENNY SIMMONDS, NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT
SKILLS-BASED FRAMEWORKS
It is against this somewhat bleak backdrop
that governments and employers are
recognising that the need to equip workers
with future-ready skills is critical.
In a research paper published earlier this
year, Singapore’s Centre for Skills-First
Practices (CSFP) notes that “human capital
development and future-skilling have come
to the fore on the policy agenda”.
“Often, however, issues such as a skills
mismatch of the economically active and
enterprises’ disinterest to transform their
businesses pose challenges to advancing
these policy objectives,” says CSFP director
Edwin Tan. “For the most part, stakeholders
have begun to realise that more needs to be
done to close the gap between the supply and
demand of skills for the economy.”
Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and
other countries across the Asia-Pacific
region are actively taking steps to facilitate
the upskilling of workers at all levels by
working with employers, professional
bodies, educators and training providers.
This includes implementing skills-based
employment frameworks that place a much
greater emphasis on workers’ verified
skills — what people can actually do and
how they apply their capabilities in real
workplace settings — over university degrees
and other credentials.
THE GLOBAL SCORECARD
When it comes to skills-based workplace
policies, some countries are further down
the track than others.
Singapore has invested heavily into skills
development over time. SkillsFuture Singapore,
the national agency under Singapore’s
Ministry of Education that stewards the
country’s lifetime learning and workforce skills
ecosystem, celebrated 10 years of operation
in 2025.
46 INTHEBLACK July 2026
The Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development, in
collaboration with Singapore’s CSFP, last
year launched the Skills-First Readiness
and Adoption Index. The index measures
the readiness and adoption of skills-first
practices in 30 countries, assessing the
depth of their education and training
systems, their talent-recognition processes,
and their foundational structures to support
skills-first approaches.
Australia scores very highly, ranking equal
first with Sweden overall as having prioritised
skills as the core currency for articulating,
developing and recognising capabilities across
the labour market.
Jobs and Skills Australia ( JSA) is
currently developing the National Skills
Taxonomy, which will replace the Australian
Skills Classification as an evidence-based
framework providing a common language
to describe, recognise and transfer skills
across education, training and employment
in Australia.
The end goal is to create a digital record,
similar to a “skills passport”, whereby workers’
acquired skills can be digitally recorded so
they can be easily referenced by individuals
and current or future employers.
“In Australia we have gone through a very
extensive process to redevelop a definition
of skill that is broad and inclusive,” says JSA
deputy commissioner, Megan Lilly.
JSA is working from the premise that
skills are dynamic. “They grow and change,
and they also regrettably degrade,” she says.
“They are human-centred, so you can have
cognitive skills, interpersonal skills, creative
skills, analytical skills, technical skills and
psychomotor skills.
“If you actually look at what is required
in the modern labour market, you need to
bring all those skills into work. Just being
technically proficient is rarely enough today.
