Building Resilience and Emerging Stronger in the Construction Sector

According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the construction sector grew 2.8% in 2019. However, much of this growth has now been reversed by the pandemic.

SGTech was honoured to have Mr Tan Kiat How, Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) & Ministry of National Development as our Guest of Honour at our CXO In Conversation: Building Resilience and Emerging Stronger in the Construction Sector.

SGTech Councillor, Ms Serene Sia and leaders from the construction sector, Mr Dominic Ang, Managing Director, Active Fire Protection Systems, Mr Mak Weng Tat, Managing Director, Chartered Survey Services Consultants and Ar Richard Lai, President, Singapore Institute of Architects also contributed their points of view on the challenges faced by companies as they transform and insights into building back our construction sector with a stronger foundation.

Watch the on-demand recording to view the full discussion.

This article aims to shed light on how organisations can build greater resilience by leveraging digital solutions, and how they can tackle the challenges faced during their digital transformation.

Challenges Brought About by the Pandemic

A few key pain points were brought up by the industry experts that companies across the construction sector faced, namely:

Increased wages and material costs
Manpower shortages due to closed borders
Attracting and retaining skilled talent
Ensuring workplace safety amidst the pandemic
Transitioning into a remote/hybrid work environment

5 Ways Organisations Can Adapt to the Pandemic

To minimise disruption in the workplace caused by the pandemic, companies in construction can adopt the following practices: -

Using Bluetooth and artificial intelligence (AI) for contact tracing.
Ensuring safe management and distancing are effectively practised at work sites.
Adopting technologies such as the Build SG Covid Safe platform that highlights potential cases early and allows only approved workers to enter work sites and dormitories.
Automating manual and complex workflows through solutions such as the five-dimensional building information modelling (5D BIM) and AI.
Strengthening the organisation’s digital infrastructure.

Supporting SMEs in the New Work Environment

Minister of State for National Development, Mr Tan Kiat How highlighted that the government is committed to supporting companies with little or no experience in digital transformation alongside this journey through a variety of assistance schemes such as BCA’s Productivity Solution’s Grant (PSG) which helps micro and small enterprises adopt easy-to-use digital and productivity solutions.

SGTech has introduced a ‘Stronger Together, Aiding Recovery’ (STAR) Fund, which aims to help tech SMEs in Singapore support the digital transformation of other SMEs. This fund helps companies leverage technology in their preparation and transition towards digital operations in a post-covid economy. Companies can also use this fund to upgrade core competencies through training programmes.

Frameworks and Initiatives to Support the Construction Industry

Experts agree that the lack of talent with the right skills is a main challenge for the industry. BCA and other industry stakeholders have worked towards tackling this issue. In addition, several accreditation schemes were crafted to help companies adopt frameworks and improve the skillsets of their employees.

1. Building a stronger talent pipeline

Programmes for students to learn about careers in the built environment sector, such as workshops, digital learning journeys, competitions.
Joint scholarships with firms to attract talent to the industry.
iBuildSG, a Built Environment Formation Programme to help better prepare students for their internships by providing real-life insights into career choices and pathways.
Hands-on interdisciplinary workshops in various transformation areas.

2. Upskilling the workforce

Launched the “Skills Framework for Built Environment” in 2020, under SkillsFuture, to outline the skills and competencies required to progress along different career pathways.
Accreditation schemes to uplift the professionalism and attractiveness of careers in built environment while promoting the recognition of skills to support career progression.

Conclusion

Firms are strongly encouraged to continue embracing the skills framework to increase the attractiveness of built environment careers to new entrants while ensuring the career progression of existing employees. This will collectively improve the industry’s growth and ensure a sustainable talent pipeline to develop greater opportunities and jobs for all Singaporeans.
By maintaining a long-term view and continue transforming by leveraging technology, companies raise their productivity and resilience, and the sector will be better equipped to deal with future disruptions.

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