What can employers do to address the gap?
Singapore companies are increasingly requiring AI fluency from workers across industries, but most hiring processes have no reliable way to assess whether candidates actually have it.
That is the central finding of a new analysis by global talent platform Second Talent, which draws on data from PwC's 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer and Singapore's Ministry of Manpower.
PwC's barometer analysed roughly 1.6 million Singapore job postings from last year and found that 5.3% required AI skills, up from 3.3% in 2024, approximately 84,000 AI-related roles in total.
Around 82% of those postings were for AI-user roles, workers expected to operate AI tools within existing functions, while just 18% sought AI developers. Growth followed the same pattern, with user roles adding roughly four times as many postings year-on-year as developer roles.
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower separately found that in Q1 2026, 18.9% of firms had already begun redesigning job functions around AI, and 13.9% had created new roles entirely.
The shift has changed what employers are asking for, but not, according to Second Talent, how they are screening for it.
"Companies budgeted for AI as an engineering line item and the market went somewhere else," said Elton Chan, co-founder and CEO of Second Talent.
"The volume is in operations, finance, marketing, and support. Those roles now come with a fluency requirement attached, and most hiring processes have no way to test for it."
The problem, Chan said, is structural. Résumés can list tools, but they do not show whether a candidate can take a messy internal process apart and get an AI system to handle it reliably.
Standard technical interviews were also not designed to surface that either, according to Second Talent.
The problem comes in the wake of surging wage premiums on AI-related postings across every sector, with Government and Public Sector roles commanding a 107% premium and Consumer Markets at 96%.
Chan warned that employers are paying a premium for AI capability they have no consistent method of verifying.
What can employers do?
Stacie Haller, chief career advisor at ResumeBuilder.com, previously told HRD that there is still no standardised approach to assessing AI skills in hiring.
"At some point, HR managers will likely implement AI skill tests during the interview process, similar to Excel assessments," Haller said. "But right now, we are still in the early stages, and there are no standard benchmarks for evaluation."
Haller said the interview remains the strongest tool available, with candidates expected to provide concrete examples of how they have used AI on the job, how effective it was, and what the result was.
"Companies need to determine how AI skills can best be applied within their organisation, how to evaluate these skills, and how to train existing staff," Haller added.
"This will be critical as AI proficiency becomes an industry standard."
