How becoming skills-powered unlocks new talent pools in an ageing workforce

Traditional job-based models with fixed roles and static job descriptions are proving increasingly inadequate in Asia amid technological advancements, significant demographic pressures, skills gaps, and market disruptions. Companies can no longer afford to underutilise any segment of available talent or rely on outdated work organisation approaches to stay sustainable.
Asia is undergoing a rapid demographic transformation, with Japan having the world's oldest population—over 29% aged 65 or older. South Korea and Singapore are ageing even faster, while China faces a "demographic cliff" due to decades of low birth rates. This shift presents critical workforce challenges:
- By 2030, Japan will face a shortage of 6.44 million workers.[1]
- South Korea's working-age population is projected to shrink by 35% by 2050.[2]
- Singapore expects 32% of its citizens to be aged over 65 by 2060.[3]
- China's working-age population is declining by approximately over 3 million people annually.[4]
These demographic changes coincide with the rapid obsolescence of skills, particularly in Japan, South Korea, China, and Singapore, where technical capabilities can become outdated in just a few years. Organisations must rethink their approach to work, as there aren’t enough younger workers to replace those retiring.
Companies will need to adopt a more flexible, skills-focused approach to fully leverage the available talent pool.
What is a skills-powered approach to work organisation?
A skills-powered approach organises work around skills rather than traditional job roles. Instead of defining jobs first and finding individuals to fit those moulds, this model starts by assessing individual capabilities and dynamically matching them to the work that needs to be done.
The skills approach allows for much greater flexibility in how work gets executed rather than being limited by rigid job descriptions, allowing organisations to deploy talent through a variety of arrangements, including:
The image represents a visual representation of various modern workforce strategies leveraging skills. It highlights five key concepts:
- Skills-powered staffing - focused on short-term initiatives or seasonal demands
- Fractional roles - allowing part-time contributions in specialised roles
- Project-based Assignments - Defined by clear deliverables and timelines
- Internal Gigs - Enabling employees to engage in projects outside their formal roles
- Skills Exchange - Facilitating the sharing of talents across departments or between organisations
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Case Study: How a skilled workforce can unleash productivity and retain talent
At Unilever, their skills-powered talent deployment has led to over 700 projects being resourced in just 90 days, with 60% of projects resourced cross-functionally and cross-geographically. A whopping 530,000 hours have been unlocked by this flexible approach – equivalent to 241 full-time employees. Additionally, 90% of employees learnt something new and stated that they would do it again.
Standard Chartered implemented a reskilling and redeployment programme across its Asian offices with Mercer's support. Instead of resorting to redundancies or external hires, the bank retrained employees away from declining ‘sunset jobs’ and into high-demand ‘sunrise roles.’ This programme not only preserved jobs but also saved an estimated $49,000 per employee in reduced recruitment costs and increased retention.[7]
The skills-powered approach opens access to untapped talent pools
As Asia’s demographic pressures intensify, a skills-powered approach supported by technological advancement can help unlock critical talent pools that traditional job-based models often overlook or underutilise:
By creating flexible pathways for these and other underutilised talent segments, skills-powered organisations not only expand their talent pipelines but also directly address the demographic challenges reshaping Asian economies.
Implementing a skills-powered approach in Asia: Challenges and solutions
While the benefits of becoming skills-powered are compelling, navigating region-specific challenges in Asian markets is essential for success:
The image outlines a framework for implementing a skills-powered approach in Asian organisations. It is divided into six sections:
- Hierarchical Organisation Structures
- Seniority-based Cultures
- Personal Relationships
- Varying Digital Maturity
- Regulatory Compliance
- Traditional Leadership Identification
The importance of developing a skills-powered workforce cannot be understated, as Asia’s major economies, such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and increasingly China, are facing unprecedented challenges with large cohorts of experienced workers approaching retirement age. By 2040, many of these markets will have dependency ratios (non-working to working population) that render traditional talent models unsustainable.
Conclusion: Three critical advantages offered by a skills-powered strategy in ageing economies
Considering Asia’s demographic reality, becoming skills-powered is not merely an HR innovation, but an economic and business imperative. Organisations that can identify, deploy, and develop capabilities across all available talent pools regardless of age, work history, or life stage will enjoy three critical advantages over their competitors:
- Extended productive careers: By focusing on capabilities over age or tenure, companies can create flexible pathways for experienced workers to contribute their valuable skills beyond the traditional retirement age.
- Knowledge preservation: Skills-powered approaches enable more effective knowledge transfer between generations, ensuring critical institutional expertise is not lost with retirement.
- Expanded talent access: By establishing more flexible work arrangements based on skills rather than job requirements, companies can tap into previously underutilised segments.
In a future defined by both demographic constraints and accelerating business change, skills-powered approaches represent one of the most promising paths forward-enabling organisations to maximise the contributions of every available talent pool while creating more engaging work experiences across increasingly diverse and multi-generational workforces.
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