ST Headstart: Staying relevant at work at any age
While mastering our current jobs may seem good enough, jobs change and the world of work is always evolving. In some cases, we may even have to consider entirely new jobs and upskill accordingly. On this week's Headstart On Record podcast, we explore how career coaching can help you to proactively plan your next steps and ensure your skills remain sharp and relevant in a dynamic job market.
If you're a fresh graduate struggling with the job hunt, you're not alone. Fresh grads here are facing a more challenging employment landscape due to factors like artificial intelligence and the trade war. Journalist Megan Wee shares the stories of recent grads navigating these challenges.
What are some other topics you'd like us to cover? Send us your thoughts at headstart@sph.com.sg
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
After tariff truce extended, a Trump-Xi summit in China?
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox US President Donald Trump said that Chinese President Xi Jinping asked for a meeting. - The United States and China appear to be pulling back from their trade war, with President Donald Trump extending a pause on tariffs in what could be a prelude to a summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Asia. The world's two largest economies have decided to set aside threats to impose triple digit tariffs on each other for another 90 days, according to an executive order signed by Mr Trump on Aug 11, hours before an existing 90 -day trade truce with China was set to expire. A likely venue for a bilateral meeting between the two presidents could be Kuala Lumpur, which is hosting the Asean's East Asia Summit from Oct 26 to 28. Both leaders have confirmed they will attend the summit. The other possibility is the sidelines of the Apec Leaders Summit in 2025, to be held from Oct 31 to Nov 1 in Gyeongju, South Korea. But there is also a third possibility, which might hold special appeal to Mr Trump and, according to some observers, would be more in keeping with his penchant for dramatic actions: a quick trip to China. The Straits Times has learnt from sources close to the administration that preparations are underway in Washington DC for a possible US presidential trip to China in between the Asean and Apec meetings. Officials in Beijing are also on standby. Things could change, however, as it is still early days, said a source asking for anonymity to discuss sensitive information. Should it take place, the meeting would be the most critical between world leaders this year. 'It is probably not a coincidence that the summit is supposed to be at the end of October, before the trade truce expires on Nov 9,' said a DC-based source, close to US officials planning the trip. 'Everything we're hearing is that they are still working towards a leaders' meeting,' he said, adding that it could come with the expectation that China helps the US broker a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war ahead of Mr Trump's Aug 15 meeting with President Vladimir Putin. 'The reading we got was that the Chinese side is pretty pragmatic and very much signalling it wants more foreign investment in China. And if the trip is very economic and business- focused, the venue could even be Shanghai,' said the source. Already, American companies are preparing a list of demands, although it is unclear if such a visit would include a large business delegation. 'If there were obstacles that were too destabilising, there would not have been a truce,' said the source. Anticipating a turning point ahead, Prof Graham Allison, the bestselling author of several books including Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides Trap, has predicted that it would be a fast track from the extension of the truce to a Trump-Xi Summit that announces a 'new partnership'. The White House has not yet released the contents of an executive order signed by Mr Trump on Aug 12 to extend the truce. But Mr Trump confirmed the extension via a social media post. 'I have just signed an Executive Order that will extend the tariff suspension on China for another 90 days. All other elements of the Agreement will remain the same,' he said. Had the truce expired, Chinese goods entering the US would be subjected to at least a 54 per cent duty. In a late night Truth Social post on Aug 11, Mr Trump had hinted that China might step up its purchases of soyabean from American farmers, one of his key political constituencies. 'China is worried about its shortage of soyabeans,' he wrote. 'I hope China will quickly quadruple its soyabean orders. This is also a way of substantially reducing China's trade deficit with the US.' China, the top customer of American soyabean farmers, bought over US$12 billion worth in 2024. Mr Trump also mysteriously thanked Mr Xi in his post, without saying why. The president, who lays great store by personal diplomacy, has himself also spoken about a possible visit to China this year. 'He (President Xi) asked for a meeting, and I'll end up having a meeting before the end of the year,' he said in a TV interview on Aug 5. A reaction from China is expected in the coming hours. Prof Allison said a thaw lay ahead. 'My hazy crystal ball suggests that Trump will announce a new 'great partnership' aimed at shifting the tone and character of the US-China relationship in a more positive direction,' he said in a post on X on Aug 12, hours after the White House announced the truce. Mr Trump treats China differently from other trading partners due to its strength, said Dr Allison, Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught for five decades. The world's second-largest economy is closing the gap with the American economy, reporting over 5 per cent growth in the first half of 2025, exceeding expectations amid continuing uncertainties in global trade. The White House had calibrated its strategy, suggested Dr Allison, after seeing China hit back with 125 per cent tariffs in response to Mr Trump's threat of 145 per cent tariffs, effectively creating a trade embargo. It was the only such response in the world, he noted. More strikingly, when the US tightened some supply chain controls, China directly choked off a half-dozen critical items, including rare earth magnets, that the US companies cannot function without. 'In this situation, China has as strong a hand as the US, maybe stronger - and President Trump treats those he sees as equals differently from those he sees as weaker,' said Dr Allison. Mr Trump appears eager for a high profile visit to China, probably with the signing of a 'big, beautiful trade deal,' said Professor Dennis Wilder, a former National Security Council director who teaches courses on Chinese governance at The Bush School of Government & Public Service. Mr Trump's actions recently appear designed to make this possible, he said, noting the reversal of the ban on the export of Nvidia's H20 chips despite opposition within the Administration. There was also, he told The Straits Times, the curtailment of 'high profile engagement with Taiwan and his refusal to say anything negative about China when asked by anti-China Fox News anchors'. 'Given that his initial overtures to Putin were disappointing, Trump will want to show the world his ability to win with China.' Ms Wendy Cutler, a senior official at the Asia Society Policy Institute and former deputy US trade negotiator, said the extension was no surprise and the path ahead would be no walk in the park. 'What remains unclear is whether the US was able to get anything in exchange for this move from Beijing, such as increased soyabean purchases or more predictable access to critical minerals and magnets,' she said in a media statement. 'Having learned important lessons from the Phase One negotiations during Trump 1.0, Beijing will be a more demanding counterpart this time around,' she noted. American businesses welcomed the news of the truce extension. 'The extension is critical to give the two governments time to negotiate an agreement that improves US market access in China, addresses the bilateral trade imbalance and provides the certainty needed for companies to make medium- and long-term plans,' said a statement from the US China Business Council, a non-profit association of more than 270 American companies that do business in China. 'Securing an agreement on fentanyl that leads to a reduction in US tariffs and a rollback of China's retaliatory measures is acutely needed to restart US agriculture and energy exports,' it added, listing American companies' longstanding demands. Mr Zichen Wang, research fellow at the Center for China and Globalisation, a Beijing-based thinktank considered close to the government, said Mr Trump would get a tremendous welcome if he visited China. 'That's in line with Chinese hospitality, traditional, and diplomatic playbook, as well as a show of respect for the US and President Trump himself personally,' he told ST.
AsiaOne
2 days ago
- AsiaOne
Singapore can deliver and thrive in a fragmented global economy: Morgan Stanley analysts, Money News
SINGAPORE — As investors look in bewilderment at the fast-deteriorating global economic landscape under US President Donald Trump's onslaught on globalisation, some analysts are looking to Singapore as one of the few safe havens worldwide. One of these analysts is Derrick Kam, a Singapore-based Asia economist at US investment bank Morgan Stanley who believes the Republic is one of the few that offers more visibility on growth potential, political stability and governance quality. He believes that Singapore has a proven track record of making policies needed to adapt to a changing global economic environment. "Where Singapore excels is sort of being able to spot these global trends and try to navigate through them... and then get ahead of them," he said in an interview with The Straits Times, along with the bank's head of Asean research Nick Lord. Both the analysts recently co-authored a research report, Singapore At 60: Unlocking Wealth Creation, which tells investors that "now is the time to build exposure to this dynamic and enterprising market". The report references post-independence Singapore turning 60 in 2025. The report highlights the various initiatives Singapore has launched in recent years — to reinforce its hub industries and implement emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to boost productivity — which could see its household net assets almost doubling to reach US$4 trillion (S$5.13 trillion) by 2030. Morgan Stanley sees the surge in household net assets as a tangible sign of real wealth creation — the process of growing assets and financial resources over time to achieve financial security and independence. The bank believes that wealth creation will be an essential part of the process by which developed economies such as Singapore will support their populations and mitigate risks inherent in a multipolar world, with an ageing population, changing patterns of energy production and consumption, and spread of new technologies. "The next step forward, we believe, will be wealth creation — building upon Singapore's established brand and economic success to further grow the country's capital and global financial standing," the Morgan Stanley analysts said in the report. The report highlights prospects of the Singapore stock market after the launch earlier in 2025 of a series of measures by the Equities Market Review Group, established by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Morgan Stanley believes the market reforms — including a $5 billion Equity Market Development Programme announced in February — could drive up return on equities and other market multiples and lead to a doubling of stock market capitalisation by 2030. On hub industries, Morgan Stanley expects Singapore to reinforce its energy hub by also becoming a major trading centre for liquefied natural gas and carbon trading as the world moves from fossil fuels to renewables. Already home to 400 global traders that transact 20 per cent of the world's energy and metals trade, Singapore could see services related to carbon trading alone generate as much as US$5.6 billion in gross value to its economy by 2050, according to the Economic Development Board's estimates. Singapore is also the world's third-largest foreign exchange (FX) trading hub after London and New York, and the biggest in the Asia-Pacific. Almost US$1 trillion of FX is traded in Singapore every day. Morgan Stanley expects that as Asian currencies take a larger share of daily global FX trade, this would make Singapore a more crucial currency trading centre, even if it does not surpass London or New York. The bank believes that Singapore can become a more significant transport and tourism hub as well, with airport capacity expansion projects and technology enhancements supporting its long-term growth goals. The Singapore Tourism Board's 2040 road map targets tourism receipts reaching $50 billion. Changi Airport plans to invest $3 billion to improve services over the next six years. It will also start the construction of Terminal 5 and open it to the public in the mid-2030s. Finally, Singapore — along with Japan and Malaysia — is likely to get a disproportionate amount of investments for new data centres and generative AI investments by the likes of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, GDS and other regional and global hyperscalers. Singapore has 26 subsea cables landing across three sites — one of the highest in Asia — and its domestic infrastructure is set to be upgraded to support 10 gigabits-per-second broadband speeds within the next five years. "We believe strengthening its leadership position in key hub industries and continuing to adopt technological advancements will yield strong productivity gains for Singapore," Mr Kam said in the interview. He estimates that AI adoption can potentially help Singapore sustain medium-term gross domestic product growth of around 3 per cent, which would keep Singapore as one of the fastest-growing developed economies in the world. The Morgan Stanley analysts do recognise the risks that can hinder Singapore's progress on these initiatives, but they believe its proactive policymaking will keep it a step ahead of others. The Singapore Government is trying to be as proactive as it can be. Soon after the April 2 launch of Trump's reciprocal tariff policy, the Republic set up the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce to help businesses and workers navigate the immediate uncertainties arising from the US tariffs and related global developments. On Aug 4, it launched an Economic Strategy Review (ESR) to help ensure Singapore thrives in the new global economic landscape. The ESR comprises five committees, each co-chaired by two political office-holders who will be joined by private sector, union and other stakeholders. The committees will engage widely with businesses and workers and other stakeholders and publish their recommendations by mid-2026. Most analysts believe similar initiatives helped the country manage crises in the past, including the more recent Covid-19-induced downturn. Lord said: "So the question is: Can Singapore adapt more successfully than others? And the track record would suggest it probably can." [[nid:720154]] This article was first published in The Straits Times . Permission required for reproduction.
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Straits Times
‘Every day, we think about how to upgrade': China's factories see rise in robot adoption
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Robotic arms lift freshly pressed plastic parts out of hot metal moulds and onto a conveyor belt at Midea's air-conditioner factory in Guangzhou. – When Mr Sun Huihai first began working at a factory in the southern manufacturing belt of Guangdong some 13 years ago, his colleagues were all humans. Now, they are joined by more than 200 robots that can work around the clock, seven days a week, to help produce air-conditioners for home appliances giant Midea. Rows of bright orange robot arms whir at all hours of the day, fishing freshly pressed plastic parts out of hot metal moulds and onto a long conveyor belt. Driverless robots with blinking lights store these parts in a multi-storey warehouse, and later take them to be assembled into units that are sold in China and around the world. The number of robots put to work on the factory floor increases every year, said Mr Sun, 37, who heads the plant's engineering department. 'Every day, we think about how to upgrade and make manufacturing here more intelligent,' he told The Straits Times. Scenes like this have become more common across China, as the 'factory of the world' turns to robotics to sustain and turbocharge its manufacturing juggernaut. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Over 118,000 speeding violations in first half of 2025; situation shows no signs of improvement: TP Singapore Israel's plan to step up Gaza offensive dangerous and unacceptable: MFA Singapore Four men arrested in Bukit Timah believed to be linked to housebreaking syndicates Singapore Criminal trial of Hyflux founder Olivia Lum and five others starts Aug 11 Singapore Why some teens cook despite Singapore's da bao culture Singapore Man arrested over hacking attempt on RedeemSG portal Singapore 'We could feel the heat from our house': Car catches fire in Bidadari area Asia 'Pain in the neck': Cable theft on the track derails train speed and schedules in Malaysia Over the past decade, the number of industrial robots on China's factory floors has increased more than six times to over 1.7 million, as companies grappled with rising wages and a shortage of workers willing to staff production lines. China now has the world's third-highest density of robots in its manufacturing industry, trailing South Korea and Singapore in first and second place respectively, according to the International Federation of Robotics' figures for 2023, the latest available. Their deployment is poised to increase further as China continues its transition from low-value, labour-intensive production to advanced manufacturing – a national priority. 'At any given time, China cannot do without the manufacturing industry,' said Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2023. 'The state will strongly support the development of high-end manufacturing.' Policymakers in China, wary of the hollowing out of industries which can occur when countries get richer, have long pushed for greater automation to keep factories competitive. A decade ago, the government rolled out 'Made in China 2025', a plan to upgrade manufacturing and become a production hub for high-tech sectors such as robots. Rebates, subsidies and other incentives have been offered to encourage factories to automate. A rise in domestic production of industrial robots has also reduced prices, making the machines more affordable. Factories in China pumped out nearly 370,000 of such robots in the first half of 2025, up 35.6 per cent from the previous year, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics. At the Midea factory in Nansha, Guangzhou, where Mr Sun works, there are 204 robotic arms and 82 automated guided vehicles. They are supplied by Kuka, a German industrial robot giant which the Chinese company bought over. One section of the plant, where plastic parts for the air-conditioner are moulded and retrieved, is dubbed a 'dark (heideng)' area. It is so named because of the high degree of automation: In theory, it can run without humans or any lights on, but in practice, it is brightly lit here at the plant. Not every part of the factory is as automated, a costly endeavour. Humans are needed to staff assembly lines, maintain the machines, and check the quality of manufactured parts. The facility employs some 4,000 workers during peak season, Mr Sun said. Mr Sun Huihai, 37, has worked for 13 years at Midea's air-conditioner factory in Guangzhou. ST PHOTO: JOYCE ZK LIM Elsewhere, other manufacturers of electrical items, electronics and cars – the main users of industrial robots in China – have also ramped up the use of technology on their factory floors. 'Dark factories' have become a buzzword to describe the most advanced of China's production facilities. Such operations have reportedly been adopted by companies ranging from home appliance giants Xiaomi and Gree to automakers Changan and Zeekr. As robot adoption picks up pace, one question that arises is: What will happen to the more than 100 million workers whom China's manufacturing sector employs? The automation drive has at times been dubbed 'replace humans with robots (jiqi huanren)'. In 2021, Gree's chairman said that the company's 'dark factory' had slashed the need for workers at the plant from 10,000 to 1,000. In Mr Sun's telling, employment at Midea's air-conditioner factory has remained roughly unchanged from a decade ago. What has changed, he said, is productivity. The number of air-conditioners the factory produces has more than tripled from 2015, company figures show. Academics Nicole Wu and Sun Zhongwei, who interviewed and surveyed factory workers in southern China just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, found that these individuals were not too concerned about robots just yet. 'Contrary to the more pessimistic assessments of automation, most manufacturing workers in Guangdong – who are buffered by steady increases in demand and a chronic labour shortage – appear to be unfazed by technological change at present,' they wrote in a paper published in 2025. China now has the world's third-highest density of robots in its manufacturing industry. ST PHOTO: JOYCE ZK LIM As China's birth rate falls and the population grows more educated, it has become more difficult for factory bosses to fill jobs, said Professor Sun Zhongwei, who studies industrial relations and social security at the South China Normal University. He is not worried that the automation drive will go so far as to undermine the manufacturing jobs often seen as a means of stabilising employment, because market forces are at play. Automation is a rational process, and industrial robots are a sizeable investment, Prof Sun said. 'Companies will need to calculate whether the cost of the machinery justifies the wages saved.' Still, he added, the biggest losers as manufacturing goes high-tech are lower-educated, older migrant workers who lack the skills to remain relevant. Many will have to return to their rural homes to do odd jobs, while others might find employment as service staff. Back at the Midea factory, Mr Wang Liangcai, 26, an engineer, believes that his job is safe from automation for now. 'Equipment still needs to be maintained, it can't do so itself,' he said. 'But if you think about the long run... we also don't know how things will be.'
