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The Centre for Skills-First Practices (CSFP) at the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) today launched the Skills-First Framework for Action (FfA) to advance Skills-First practices that strengthen enterprise competitiveness, career health and inclusive growth.
The Framework identifies a set of Skills-First practices for individuals and enterprises, and recommends pilot ideas to support their adoption. The pilots seek to make skills articulation, activation and recognition, alongside qualifications, a stronger basis for career and business decision-making — spanning hiring, talent development, career progression and enterprise transformation.
Acting Minister for Manpower and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Information, Ms Jasmin Lau, attended the launch of the Skills-First: Framework for Action at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, as part of the SkillsFuture Festival 2026, as the Guest of Honour.
Three shifts underpinning the pilots to engender Skills-First practices
Singapore’s SkillsFuture Movement has already made strong progress in advancing lifelong learning. The three shifts this Framework proposes tell us where to direct that strengthened capacity:
i) Behavioural shift – from one-off to routine: Make skills reviews and skills-based decisions an ongoing part of career planning, hiring and workforce development, not isolated exercises;
ii) Environmental shift – from opt-in to default: Workplace systems and policies should make Skills-First decisions the standard approach; and
iii) Capability shift – from isolated to shared: Share learnings so that good practices and common standards can be adopted across companies and sectors.
Twelve pilot ideas to be tested before wider rollout
The Framework proposes 12 pilot ideas to be trialled with government agencies, Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs), employers, unions, education providers and industry partners, building evidence on what works before wider rollout. The pilot ideas are non-exhaustive and serve to kickstart efforts to advance Skills-First practices. Key recommendations include:
i) Introduce recurring career and skills reviews to encourage individuals to regularly check in on their skills and career goals throughout their working lives;
ii) Develop a Skills-First Enterprise Transformation Pathway to provide employers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a structured pathway to diagnose workforce needs and map capabilities. It will also support employers to redesign jobs and hiring practices, as well as strengthen internal mobility and skills-based progression;
iii) Build Skills-First capability where workforce decisions are made to equip managers and SME owners, supported by business advisors, tools and practical capability to apply Skills-First practices in their day-to-day workforce decisions. This includes having effective skills conversations and making better decisions on hiring, and making skills-informed decisions that shape how employees’ skills are developed, deployed and applied at work;
iv) Strengthen shared skills infrastructure for foresight and inclusion, to help organisations translate national jobs and skills information into their own job structures and workforce needs.
v) Develop Skills-First Observatory to track the adoption of Skills-First practices and examine how they are linked to outcomes for individuals and enterprises.
(See media Info kit for the full list of 12 pilot ideas for stakeholders. The complete framework can be found here.)
Over the past two years, CSFP has published five Skills-First Working Papers and convened corresponding roundtables. It has also conducted design thinking workshops with policymakers, employers, unions, practitioners, researchers and individuals to examine systemic barriers, workforce and enterprise challenges, and opportunities to advance Skills-First practices. The Skills-First Framework for Action, the sixth and final paper in this Skills-First Working Paper Series, consolidates insights into actions by identifying the specific Skills-First Practices for individuals and enterprises, and proposing pilot ideas that stakeholders can test, refine and scale to accelerate the adoption of Skills-First Practices across Singapore.
The FfA is co-authored by five institutional partners, namely the Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA), National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Singapore Business Federation (SBF), Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).
The five co-authors are:
i) Ms Dilys Boey, Chief Executive, Skills and Workforce Development Agency;
ii) Professor Tan Tai Yong, President, Singapore University of Social Sciences;
iii) Ms Caryn Lim, Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Job Security, National Trades Union Congress;
iv) Mr Mark Lee, Chairman, Singapore Business Federation; and
v) Ms Tan Hwee Bin, Vice President, Singapore National Employers Federation.
(See media Info kit for quotes by authors)
“The real measure of Skills-First is whether skills shape everyday decisions. The Skills-First Framework for Action helps organisations turn intent into action by embedding Skills-First practices into how they hire, develop and deploy their people, and how skills are recognised and rewarded. It also empowers individuals to take greater ownership of their skills, continue developing them and use them to pursue new opportunities. As more organisations and individuals put Skills-First into practice and share what works, we can build a society where skills open up opportunities for people and support business growth,” said Associate Professor (Practice) Terence Ho, Executive Director, Institute for Adult Learning.
Building sustainable and scalable Skills-First practices
Scaling and sustaining Skills-First practices require us to go beyond pilots. As part of the Skills-First: Framework for Action, CSFP has set out a Skills-First Research and Development (R&D) Agenda, which identifies key areas that need further studies to deepen our understanding of Skills-First practices, adoption and outcomes. The Agenda will guide research into how Skills-First practices are being adopted, identify the conditions that enable them to take root and deliver stronger outcomes, and new approaches that can further strengthen and accelerate adoption.
To track progress over time, CSFP will develop a Skills-First Observatory to monitor the adoption of Skills-First practices and outcomes for individuals and enterprises. The Observatory will provide a recurring, evidence-based view of how Skills-First practices are taking root, drawing on a combination of surveys, labour market and jobs data, administrative data and other relevant sources where available.
It will track indicators of how Skills-First is being applied in practice. For individuals, these could include how regularly people review and articulate their skills, use skills information to guide career and learning decisions, and apply their skills at work. For enterprises, indicators could include the use of skills in hiring, workforce development, deployment and progression decisions. Over time, these insights will provide a consistent basis for identifying where progress is being made, where gaps remain, and where further action or experimentation is needed.
Ground-up effort is equally important to advance, scale and sustain Skills-First practices. In that regard, CSFP will also spearhead a Skills-First community that brings together employers, researchers and experts, who share an interest in translating the Framework into practice within their organisations and networks. The community will provide a space to explore and adopt Skills-First practices, through learning from the experiences and insights of one another and from methodologies and approaches that work. It will also provide opportunities for people and organisations to contribute their own ideas, practices and solutions.
To find out more about the Skills-First Framework for Action and explore how you can put it into practice, visit https://www.ial.edu.sg/skills-first.