Wong: AI Risks Cutting Off the First Rung of Young Workers' Careers
Source: Fintech News SG
Lawrence Wong says AI's appetite for routine tasks could rob junior staff of the on-the-job training that builds judgement, and urges employers to protect the first rung.
Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has flagged an uncomfortable side effect of workplace AI: entry-level staff risk losing the routine assignments that traditionally teach them how to do the job. In a conference dialogue on 12 October, he said automation could hollow out the earliest stages of a career.
Wong was speaking with DBS Group chief executive Tan Su Shan at the bank's Asia Future Forward Conference. Tan pointed to AI agents at DBS that now produce credit memos, compressing analysis and research that once took weeks. That prompted the obvious question: where will junior bankers pick up practical experience?
Tasks such as drafting speeches, taking minutes and assembling presentations are precisely what sharpen a newcomer's skills and judgement, Wong noted, warning that the lowest rung of the career ladder could snap. Singapore is studying the fallout across fields from banking and law to medicine and engineering, and is working with tripartite partners to decide if new training programmes or schemes are needed. Employers, he argued, should be more deliberate about coaching and mentoring younger staff.
He also pushed back on leaning too heavily on AI in education, insisting that critical thinking, solid judgement and a firm grip on fundamentals remain essential. Wong accepted that adoption may bring retrenchments, but said firms must manage them fairly - giving unions enough advance notice to help workers retrain and find new roles, alongside government support, and allowing the transition to stretch over time so both workers and businesses can adjust.
Three principles underpin Singapore's approach, he said: safety and security, human accountability, and benefits shared widely. He ruled out compromising on safety or on critical systems and sensitive information, and stressed that people must remain answerable for consequential decisions businesses make with the technology.
Why it matters for Singapore: Wong's stated aim is not a country run by AI but a better one that uses it - a distinction that puts the burden on employers to protect the talent pipeline rather than trade it away for efficiency. If the first rung disappears, the ladder above it eventually has no one climbing.
