Greater support to grow, equip Singapore’s social service workforce to meet more complex needs

At the closing event for the year held at Gardens by the Bay, Mr Masagos noted that Singapore’s population is rapidly ageing, while families are becoming smaller.

“Families’ needs are evolving with new challenges such as mental health issues, digital inclusion and social isolation. We are also seeing more families with complex needs,” he said. 

“These shifts will likely result in increasingly complex demands placed on the limited manpower in our sector.”

Hence, there is a need to boost the manpower pipeline and capabilities in the sector, he said, and tap technology to deliver better services more efficiently.

MSF plans to better support the development of leaders in the sector, he added.

From March 2026, the MSF’s Professional Services Group will work with the sector to set up a dedicated professional network, called the Supervision Nexus, to support and improve supervision standards and practices. 

In his speech, Mr Masagos also spoke about how the social service sector is using artificial intelligence, for example, to help workers spend less time on administrative tasks such as taking notes so that they can focus more on engaging the people they work with.

He cited Mr Ashokkumar Ramachandran from AWWA’s Early Intervention Centre, who uses an AI-driven platform called Efficiency AI, which helps professionals to conduct behavioural assessments.

This allows staff to provide faster and more precise intervention to the children at the centre.

Mr Masagos said that international cooperation will allow for exchange of ideas to find better ways to serve people, as many countries face similar challenges of ageing societies and widening income inequality.

To this end, Singapore has set up partnerships with countries such as Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines, and will cooperate with them on child development – specifically, the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, he added.