Editorial

ETHOS Issue 29, Nov 2025

From an unprecedented global pandemic to seismic geopolitical shifts and game-changing technological advances, the past decade has given much cause for learning and change. The pace at which we have been asked to reinvent ourselves, our skills and our work has been disconcerting — and will not relent anytime soon. For the past ten years, the SkillsFuture movement has sought to prepare Singaporeans for an uncertain future, by nurturing the attitudes, approaches and actors needed for a resilient workforce to thrive in the face of anything tomorrow might hold.

This formidable task has called for efforts that span the whole of government. In this special issue, we feature insights from current and past leaders of the SkillsFuture movement as they reflect on how it has had to adapt, learn and evolve as new challenges (and different needs) emerge.

To make SkillsFuture work, a strong network of partners across different sectors has sprung up: this ecosystem now needs to be thoughtfully tended and expanded. As a mindset of lifelong learning takes hold, and with a growing pool of success stories to draw on, experts discuss how we can now take a more systematic, informed approach, augmented with new tools and technologies, to help Singaporeans realise the tangible benefits of career design, mindful upskilling and organisational transformation.

The Singapore Public Service is both a key enabler of this national shift, and a role model for what an empowered, skills-first and career health-oriented work culture can look like. We hear from agencies who have reinvented themselves with this spirit in mind, gleaning lessons for how organisations can work hand in hand with their people today, to succeed in tomorrow’s brave new world, together.

We thank our issue partners, SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore, for gathering these insights on the progress of the SkillsFuture movement, its evolving efforts to support both individuals and employers, and exciting prospects for the future of continual learning, career design, and workforce transformation.

I wish you an inspiring read.

Dr Alvin Pang
Editor-in-Chief, ETHOS