Career Health: The Accelerator Towards Human Capital Optimisation

This practitioners’ insights paper explains the concept of Career Health which is aimed at empowering Singaporeans to build career resilience and mobility and enabling companies to boost talent attraction, retention, and workforce development. Singapore’s open economy and exposure to global macrotrends make individuals susceptible to job disruptions and companies to labour and skills shortages. We can buffer against these effects through building Career Health, which optimises the potential of our human capital. Through career planning, individuals are equipped with better career management skills to navigate career transitions, and gain clarity on how to upskill and reskill themselves to meet career aspirations. Through adopting skills-first practices, firms can benefit from a wider skilled talent pool, and increase the retention of skilled talent through career development and up/reskilling employees. Individuals and businesses can tap into a suite of initiatives by Workforce Singapore which supports Career Health, such as the CareersFinder tool on MyCareersFuture portal, personalised career guidance programmes for individuals, and structured career planning workshops for employers to support their employees. Implemented effectively, Career Health will enable developed economies to optimise human capital in an ageing population, and to thrive in a volatile future.