Here is something I have been noticing lately.
Singapore is investing heavily in smart ports, automated warehouses and AI-driven logistics. Tuas Port will be one of the world’s most advanced container terminals. Companies across the island are racing to adopt the latest technology. On paper, we look ready for the future.
Over the past few months, I have had many conversations with supply chain leaders across Singapore. In my line of work, I also see firsthand struggle to find the right people to bring these investments to life.
And from where I sit as a recruiter specialising in this industry, I am observing a growing gap.
The machines are arriving. The people to run them? Not quite.
The Middle Layer Is Changing
In January, news broke that Amazon is cutting 30,000 corporate roles globally. These are not warehouse workers. These are the planners, the coordinators, the managers, the very people Singapore built its logistics hub status on.
For years, Singapore prospered by being where multinationals parked their regional brains. We provided the people who managed complex flows across Asia. But from where I sit, I see that middle layer changing. The roles my clients used to ask me to fill from regional logistics managers, supply chain coordinators, operations planners are quietly shifting. The job scopes look different from what they were a few years ago.
The Skills Gap
We often treat supply chain security as a technology problem. We buy better software, install more sensors, encrypt more data. All of that matters. But the real vulnerability is simpler.
A KPMG survey released this year found that nearly 60 per cent of Singapore businesses see skills mismatches as a major barrier to building capable teams. When it comes to adopting AI, talent gaps are the single biggest obstacle.
I encounter this often in my day to day work. A client invests in a new AI-powered planning tool. They ask me to find someone who can run it. But what they really need is someone who can question it, who can tell when the algorithm is wrong, who can translate what the machine says into what the operations team actually needs.
Those people are rare. And they are not applying for jobs on job portals.
What This Means for Security
Think about what this means. Imagine an AI system flags something unusual in a shipment. If there is no one around who understands both the technology and the business context, that alert could easily be ignored. A compliance warning pops up for a supplier in a sensitive region. Without a procurement professional who can interpret the data and make a judgement call, the shipment might just move through anyway.
The machines can detect. Only humans can decide. If we do not have enough humans who can make those decisions, our supply chains are not secure. They are just expensively monitored.
What the Experts Are Saying
In January, Channel News Asia reported that routine-based jobs across industries are shrinking. Mr Alvin Goh, CEO of the Singapore Human Resources Institute, observed that roles requiring judgment, collaboration, and learning agility are growing. In the financial sector, entry-level analysts are no longer needed to prepare reports as AI now handles that. The demand is for employees who can interpret data and communicate insights to stakeholders.
This is exactly what I am hearing from my clients in logistics. They do not just want someone to track shipments. They want someone to analyse shipment data and tell them why delays keep happening. They do not just want someone to process invoices. They want someone to look at procurement patterns and find cost savings the algorithm missed.
The Deliveroo Lesson
In late February, Deliveroo announced it would cease operations in Singapore after more than a decade. Its parent company DoorDash is also pulling out of Qatar, Japan, and Uzbekistan as part of a broader review of its international portfolio.
The official statement said the decision followed a review of “country-specific conditions” and a focus on investing where the company sees “the clearest path to sustainable scale and long-term leadership.”
Deliveroo confirmed that “the whole team in Singapore will be impacted.” The National Delivery Champions Association and the Ministry of Manpower have stepped in to offer support, helping affected platform workers transition to other platforms or find permanent employment.
This is not just a food delivery story. It is a signal. Global companies are making sharp, unsentimental decisions about where to place their bets. Singapore cannot assume it will always be the default hub for Asia. We have to earn that position—by building a workforce that can handle complexity, not just volume.
The Deliveroo exit reminds us that when parent companies review their portfolios, they look for markets with “sustainable scale and long-term leadership.” That does not mean being the cheapest place to operate. It means being the place with the deepest talent, the sharpest thinking, and the most adaptable workforce.
Where Are These People?
This is the question I wrestle with daily. The honest answer is: they are not on job portals. They are not actively looking. They are too busy firefighting the very problems we need them to solve.
Companies that wait for these people to apply will wait forever. The only way to secure them is to go find them. And the only way to keep them is to give them work that matters.
A Final Thought
Stop treating workforce development as an HR problem. It is a security problem. It is the problem that will determine whether Singapore remains a logistics hub or becomes just another node in someone else’s network.
Invest in training, but not the classroom kind. Embed learning in daily work. Give your people time to experiment with AI, to question its outputs, to develop the judgment that no algorithm can replicate.
And when you hire, stop looking for candidates who fit yesterday’s job descriptions. Look for people who can adapt, who can think, who can bridge the gap between what the machine says and what the business needs.
Because in the end, supply chain security is not about having the best algorithms. It is about having people who know when to trust them, when to question them, and when to override them.
Those people are out there. But they will not come to you. You have to go find them. That is exactly what I do.
Author Bio: Dennis Wee is the founder of Harold Consultancy, a Singapore-based search firm focused on Supply Chain and Logistics. A former in-house HR professional, he combines operational insight with a confidential search process to help companies secure the leaders who make technology work and teams perform.
