June 15, 2026

Our commentary from the In-Work Poverty and the Challenges of Getting By (IWP) research project highlights an emerging divide: lower-educated young Singaporean workers are falling behind in AI proficiency compared to their higher-educated peers, widening the bifurcation between white and blue-collar jobs.

These workers face barriers: limited workplace exposure to AI, less access to devices conducive for learning, and jobs where the technology does not yet feel relevant. The real risk is not immediate job loss, but being locked out of future advancement opportunities.

As Singapore pushes to become an AI leader, broad-based AI literacy is both an economic imperative and social mobility imperative.

Read the commentary by Prof Irene Y.H. Ng, Zhi Han Tan, V. Deepa and Aaron Lim here(opens in new tab).