As the panel delved into their research and discussions, they began to shift their focus from identifying problems to crafting actionable strategies. This was when they settled on their approach to get youths in Singapore to become more willing and able to seize employment and economic opportunities beyond our borders, to bolster their competitiveness and career progression in Singapore.
Overseas work experience can provide valuable skills and networks that better position youths for more senior roles in the future, including corporate leadership positions. It also helps to boost Singapore’s overall workforce competitiveness, and is beneficial to both youths with leadership ambitions and businesses with regional expansion plans.
“South-east Asia naturally came up in terms of how we can create more opportunities since the region has large consumer markets and a lot of potential for young people,” says Mr Adam. He has himself benefited from educational stints in Thailand and Japan as part of the Asean-Japan Youth Forum: Take Actions for Social Change, and in Vietnam under the SMU-X module Macroeconomics in Asia.
The group was also mindful that taking advantage of such overseas work opportunities would require a deeper knowledge and understanding of the different countries around us, as well as potentially different skill sets.
To ensure their recommendations were grounded in real-world data, the panellists developed a problem statement that they then validated through a public survey in May 2024. This allowed the team to collect quantitative and qualitative data.
Additionally, the #JobHacks panel is now conducting focus group discussions with various employers to gain industry perspectives. This approach helps the panellists with varying levels of work experience to develop solutions that resonate with both young job seekers and employers.