Singapore’s financial institutions should plan for their workforce alongside artificial intelligence adoption as AI changes jobs across the sector, Deputy Prime Minister and Monetary Authority of Singapore Chairman Gan Kim Yong said.
Speaking at the Institute of Banking and Finance Distinction Evening on Sept. 24, Gan said AI was already changing how financial institutions operate, including customer service, financial advisory, credit underwriting, fraud detection, market analysis, and software development.
“Developing our workforce must be part of this effort from the outset,” Gan said, adding that Singapore wanted AI to translate into “better careers for Singaporeans and a more productive workforce.”
He said financial institutions must identify how jobs will change, prepare employees early and help them benefit from new opportunities. The government, IBF and unions would support the effort.
Gan outlined a three-part strategy to support the financial sector workforce: “uplift” workers with critical AI skills, “upskill” finance professionals for specific AI-enabled roles and “upbuild” a pipeline of AI- and job-ready young talent.
The initiatives come as some larger financial institutions integrate AI across functions, while some fintech firms have been built around AI from the outset, Gan said.
He said AI offered opportunities to raise productivity, serve clients better, strengthen risk management and develop new areas of growth.
As part of the effort, IBF is enhancing a tripartite memorandum of understanding with the NTUC Financial and Professional Services Cluster of Unions and seven industry associations covering banking, insurance, asset management, securities, financial advisory, and fintechs.
The associations represent more than 800 financial institutions and fintech firms, accounting for more than 70% of the financial sector’s workforce, according to Gan.
The enhanced partnership will focus on wider industry outreach, greater access to training and career support, as well as programmes tailored to individual subsectors.
IBF also launched the AI Workforce Co-Lab with 23 financial institutions across banking, insurance and asset management.
The institutions have committed to train their entire Singapore workforce, more than 80,000 employees, in critical AI skills through IBF-recognised programmes by 2028. More than half of those employees have already been trained.
The Co-Lab will assess how jobs are changing and test approaches to training and job redesign. Its initial programmes cover leaders, wealth managers and operations staff.
Ten private banking employers have also committed to upskill their relationship managers through Co-Lab@Wealth Managers.
The programme aims to combine AI skills with client engagement and advisory expertise as demand for wealth management rises across Asia.
In operations, the Co-Lab will examine how jobs can be redesigned as AI changes routine processes.
Workers may take on higher responsibilities in existing roles, move into related positions or transition into new work involving AI.
Gan also announced the IBF Job Redesign Playbook for Financial Services, developed with the Skills and Workforce Development Agency and the Institute for Human Resource Professionals.
The playbook will provide business leaders and human-resource practitioners with guidance and assistance on job redesign as they adopt AI.
The government and IBF will also continue providing resources and funding for workforce planning, training and career transitions, Gan said.
For younger workers, IBF’s pilot Young Talent Programme for AI in Finance is giving undergraduates training in both AI and finance, alongside practical experience of how AI is used in the financial sector.
The first cohort has completed its masterclasses and will begin project work under industry mentors, with some participants expected to take work attachments at financial institutions.
Gan said the scale of change brought by AI could be greater than previous workforce transitions and would require continued cooperation among financial institutions, unions, industry associations and training partners.