Every now and then, we find ourselves thinking long and hard about the future and one of the more important aspects in life that most of us really put our time and planning to is our career. Unless you’re psychic and can totally read the future and see which career path will thrive a few years or several decades from now, then we could all use some research and statistics to validate our estimate and plans for our long-term career decisions and goals.
If you’re getting unsolicited advice from your parents (which is totally expected and understandable) for your career path, and if your parents’ advice is based on what worked for them back in the day, then you might need a little more insight for the direction where you may want to take your career to. We’re almost halfway through 2018, and if you’re considering making a big career shift here in Singapore, then you might want to take the next few text blocks to heart:
The Five Hottest Industries in Singapore this 2018
1. Healthcare
If you’re keen on reading the news and are generally monitoring Singapore’s population profile, it’s a no-brainer that Singapore is right up there among the countries with the fastest ageing population.
What that means for people looking for work is that there will be a huge demand for healthcare workers in the following years. According to the Ministry of Health, there will be around 9,000 job openings in the healthcare sector in the next three years.
And if you’re considering this route, working in this sector does not only require doctors and nurses as there are many other applied healthcare roles which include diagnostic radiographers and physiotherapists, which also have direct impact on other people’s well-being, but do not require one to spend long years in med school.
2. Professional Services
The professional services industry is a collection of services from other sectors such as advertising, accounting, architecture, consulting, design, legal, and engineering services.
Having a solid background and expertise on any of the above sectors will give you the edge that you need to thrive in Singapore in the long run.
Professional service providers deal with companies and firms instead of individual consumers, so you can imagine that the scope would be quite huge, but if you get connected with the right sector such as project management, business development, HR, legal, accounting, operations, etc., you are sure to find your skills and talents into good and highly profitable use.
3. Finance
Right now, Singapore has already established itself as one of the world’s strongest financial districts, and if everything goes according to the Government’s plan, the financial sector is bound to experience exponential growth at over 4 per cent per year, which will translate to thousands of job openings.
Coupled with technology, the finance sector has gotten the much-needed boost to provide cross-cultural and secure services which are highly popular wherever you may be in the world. Of note, banks have received great benefit from the technology that we have today because it is now more convenient for finance advisers to reach out to customers when giving advice and help regarding personal financial matters.
If you have no solid training and background in finance, know that there are certain jobs in the field such as those in compliance which do no not require one to have specialized degrees, but offer just as much room for growth and the ability to earn more in the future.
4. Wholesale and Trade
Ever since, even if you look through history books, Singapore has always been known to be a vital cog in the growth of international trade in the region as well as with the rest of the world.
That being said, Singapore has lived up to its reputation because the wholesale trade industry has been one of the strongest and most stable sector supporting the economy since 2016, with an impressive 12% contribution to the country’s economic performance since.
With a number of thriving business headquarters based here in Singapore, we can expect to see more steam from this sector in the coming years. And that is just about all the reason you would need to position yourself in this sector.
5. Media and Infocomm
If you look around, or as you are reading in front of your computer or cell phone, it’s no secret that the future is digital, and where information and communication are involved, there will be plenty of jobs, especially in a tech-forward country such as Singapore.
Depending on what you are inclined to and your skill-set, you can either take on technical or non-technical roles.
Of course, there’s always the IT (technical) side of the coin, and the media or marketing side on the other hand.
If you’re wondering what kind of skills would be helpful for this career transition, you can look into coding, web development, as well as digital and infocomm sales marketing.