Daily Briefing: iSTOX closes $66.2m Series A funding; 'Queen Bee' firms to mobilise other employers to uplift sectors' capabilities: Lawrence Wong

And In-demand roles and skills across seven sectors in Singapore.

From e27:

iSTOX, a Singapore Exchange (SGX)-backed digital securities platform, announced today it has closed its $66.18m (US$50m) Series A funding round, as two Japanese government-backed investors joined the round.

The VC arm of Japan Investment Corporation, JIC Venture Growth Investments, and government-owned Development Bank of Japan joined other new investors including Japan’s Juroku Bank and Mobile Internet Capital in the latest round of financing.

Existing investors SGX, Japan’s Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings, and Korea’s Hanwha Asset Management also made fresh investments.

Oi Yee Choo, chief commercial officer of iSTOX, shared in a statement the new financing will be utilised to bankroll the expansion of iSTOX’s “geographical footprint” and investment offerings. She shared the platform will roll out private issuances by blue-chip issuers for individual investors and expansions in China will continue.

Read more here.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

The Singapore Government is partnering with industry leaders to uplift the capabilities of their sectors by engaging in workforce developments, said Minister for Education Lawrence Wong on 20 January.

Speaking at the fourth SkillsFuture Fellowships and SkillsFuture Employer Awards ceremony, Wong said he was "very encouraged to see a growing number of employers...come aboard the SkillsFuture movement."

"These companies recognise the importance of skills development and are taking active steps to invest in the training of their employees," he said at the event held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.

"Under the next bound of SkillsFuture, we will continue to help our employers take ownership of the skills development of their staff and workers. We are partnering with industry leaders, what we call Queen Bee companies, to uplift the capabilities of their respective sectors," he added.

Read more here.

From HumanResourcesOnline:

With hybrid roles emerging as a trend in the future, apart from their core skill sets, employers are increasingly wanting employees to have supplementary skills such as data analysis, project management, and more.

According to NTUC LearningHub’s The New Normal of Sector Skills report, 71% of 367 business leaders (senior managers or directors and above) surveyed said they intend to hire candidates with broader skill sets in the future.

With almost all employers (99%) agreeing that there is a greater need for employees to take on hybrid roles to meet the organisation's current business objectives, employees are increasingly expected to have supplementary skills such as data analysis (54%), project management skills (52%), digital marketing (35%), and basic IT support (31%).

The report also uncovered the top five technical roles, technology skills, and adaptive skills employers are looking to hire for, across seven industry sectors in Singapore (manufacturing, built and environment, trade and connectivity, essential domestic services, modern services, and lifestyle).

More than half of employers (57%) have reported the intention to hire new employees with the below skill sets: engineering services quality control (23%), electronics technical and engineering (19%), engineering services operations and maintenance (19%), engineering services engineering procurement (17%), aerospace aircraft maintenance (15%).

Read more here.