SINGAPORE – Software engineers in Singapore are less likely than their global peers to lose their jobs to artificial intelligence (AI), owing to strong government support and the Republic’s proximity to an array of tech firms, say talent and technology players.
vibe coding
– where one can build apps and websites using word commands – is especially ominous for this group of computer experts.
Mr Eugene Yang, managing director for Singapore and Hong Kong at technology consultancy Palo IT, said the signs are that companies here are already reducing demand for junior developers, traditionally hired through offshore markets such as India, Vietnam, the Philippines and China.
But Singapore’s smaller, more specialised tech workforce offers an opportunity.
He said: “We could emerge as the AI orchestration hub for South-east Asia, managing AI agents rather than human coders.”
Managing AI agents – bots that can work and learn independently without human supervision – to collaborate to accomplish complex tasks is beginning to draw attention among enterprises.
Ms Rohini Saluja, managing director at real estate services firm CBRE, said the AI orchestration layer is where human oversight, ethical design and complex system integration are needed.
These areas play up Singapore’s strengths – but offshore information technology (IT) offices will not disappear, she said.
She noted: “Take an example of data labelling for AI training. Despite improvements in optical character recognition technology, companies continue to value quality, accuracy and the human lens for such data.
“Such roles will not be feasible in higher-cost markets.”
Likewise, Mr Ravi Nippani, head of regional industries and solutions at professional services firm Mercer Asia, expects businesses here to keep using offshore teams.
