Firms with over 200 employees will need at least one certified HR professional from July 2028

Organisations with more than 200 employees in their ranks should have at least one certified human resource (HR) professional, or higher, from July 1, 2028.

Speaking at the Institute for HR Professionals' (IHRP) "People behind People" forum held at the Marina Bay Sands' Expo and Convention Centre on Thursday (Sept 24), Minister of State for Manpower Foo Cexiang noted that every worker will, at some point in their career, be affected by an important HR decision.

"From hiring, to promotion, and redeployment, workers and employers alike must have confidence that they are made professionally, fairly and with sound judgement," he said.

Turning to the Tripartite Workgroup on Human Capital Capability Development's report on strengthening human capital in every workplace for every worker, the minister of state highlighted that Singapore must guard against a future of jobless growth.

This, he said, happens when businesses may become more productive, but workers see fewer pathways to enter, progress and build meaningful careers.

Foo added that for growth to translate into stronger careers and better lives for workers, businesses and HR leaders will need to approach transformation as both an economic and people imperative.

Calling the report an "important blueprint" for how Singapore can achieve growth with opportunity, the minister of state said the Government accepts the recommendations and will work closely with tripartite partners to realise them.

"The recommendations within show how we can make the quality of opportunities more visible, redesign work so that productivity and people progress together, and strengthen the professional and leadership capabilities needed to make workforce decisions."

HR professionals part of transformation

Foo also cautioned that business and people transformation cannot be treated as separate conversations as artificial intelligence (AI) changes work and what people do.

"They are two sides of the same challenge. When business leaders and HR leaders make decisions together from the start, firms are better able to grow, transform and create better opportunities for their workers," he said.

This means that future people leaders must speak both the language of business and the language of people, he said.

"HR leaders need to understand strategy, operations, technology and value creation. Business leaders need to understand skills, job design and workforce outcomes.

"Together, they can see the whole picture and make better decisions."

One of the recommendations in the workgroup's report called for the establishment of a trusted baseline for HR practice.

Noting that this need was recognised since 2020, the minister of state announced that from July 1, 2028, organisations with more than 200 employees will be required to have at least one suitable HR professional who is an IHRP-certified professional or higher.

There are currently four certification quality marks: certified associate, certified professional, senior professional, and master professional.

At the certified professional level, a HR practitioner would have at least three years of relevant working experience at that level, based on the defined body of competencies.

The minister of state said the requirement is expected to grow the pool of certified HR professionals from 9,000 to around 18,000, or 40 per cent of the HR workforce, by 2030.

Subsidies will also be extended to encourage early adoption, he added.

Reiterating the impetus of these efforts, Foo said: "Our goal is not growth at any cost, nor growth without jobs.

"It is growth that opens new pathways for people, enables businesses and workers to progress together, and gives every worker the opportunity to contribute and find purpose through work."

从 2028 年 7 月 1 日起，员工人数超过 200 人的组织应至少拥有一名获得认证的人力资源 (HR) 专业人员或更高级别的专业人员。

周四（9月24日），人力部政务部长傅策祥在滨海湾金沙会展中心举行的人力资源专业人士协会（IHRP）“人背后的人”论坛上发表讲话时指出，每位员工在其职业生涯的某个阶段都会受到重要的人力资源决策的影响。

他说：“从招聘、晋升到重新部署，员工和雇主都必须确信这些过程都是专业、公平且经过合理判断的。”

国务部长援引人力资本能力发展三方工作组关于加强每个工作场所每个工人的人力资本的报告强调，新加坡必须警惕未来出现无就业增长。

他表示，这种情况发生在企业生产力提高，但员工进入职场、晋升和建立有意义的职业生涯的途径减少的时候。

Foo补充说，要让增长转化为员工更美好的职业生涯和更美好的生活，企业和人力资源领导者需要将转型视为经济和人事方面的必然选择。

国务部长称该报告是新加坡如何实现增长和机遇的“重要蓝图”，并表示政府接受这些建议，并将与三方合作伙伴密切合作以实现这些建议。

“这些建议表明，我们可以如何让机会的质量更加显而易见，如何重新设计工作以使生产力和员工共同进步，以及如何加强做出劳动力决策所需的专业和领导能力。”

人力资源专业人员参与转型

Foo 还提醒说，业务转型和人员转型不能被视为两个独立的话题，因为人工智能 (AI) 正在改变工作和人们的工作方式。

他说：“这是同一挑战的两个方面。当企业领导者和人力资源领导者从一开始就共同做出决策时，企业就能更好地发展、转型，并为员工创造更好的机会。”

他说，这意味着未来的领导者必须既会说商业语言，也会说人际语言。

人力资源领导者需要了解战略、运营、技术和价值创造。业务领导者需要了解技能、工作设计和员工绩效。

“他们齐心协力，就能看到全局，做出更好的决策。”

工作组报告中的一项建议是，建立人力资源实践的可信基准。

鉴于自 2020 年以来就已认识到这一需求，国务部长宣布，从 2028 年 7 月 1 日起，拥有 200 名以上员工的组织将被要求至少配备一名合格的人力资源专业人员，该专业人员必须是 IHRP 认证的专业人员或更高级别的专业人员。

目前有四种认证质量标志：认证助理、认证专业人员、高级专业人员和大师级专业人员。

达到认证专业水平的人力资源从业人员，至少需要三年与该水平相关的从业经验，并符合既定的能力体系。

国务部长表示，预计到 2030 年，这项要求将使获得认证的人力资源专业人员数量从 9,000 人增加到约 18,000 人，占人力资源从业人员的 40%。

他还补充说，补贴也将扩大，以鼓励尽早采用。

Foo重申了这些努力的动力，他说：“我们的目标不是不惜一切代价的增长，也不是没有就业机会的增长。”

“增长为人们开辟了新的道路，使企业和员工能够共同进步，并让每位员工都有机会做出贡献，并通过工作找到意义。”