In 2018, Singapore companies ranked the cost of technology and the shortage of skilled staff among their biggest obstacles. The findings come from the Singapore Business Federation’s (SBF) National Business Survey 2018/2019. The survey also showed that most companies had already begun to innovate.
Headline findings from the SBF survey
SBF reported that close to two in three large companies (64%) had implemented business innovations, as had 55% of SMEs. Companies saw innovation as important across the business. They rated it crucial for customer experience (88%), operational processes (88%), business models (87%) and new products or services (85%).
Technology cost was the leading barrier. Both large companies (58%) and SMEs (59%) ranked the cost of purchasing and implementing technology as their top challenge in 2018.
Manpower as the main constraint
Hiring was the other recurring problem. Finding people with the right skills and attitude remained the top challenge for large companies (65%) and SMEs (60%), as in 2017. Rising labour cost continued to be an issue for 50% of companies.
Technology skills were a specific worry. Businesses ranked the availability of suitable manpower with technological expertise (41%) as a main concern in 2018. Retraining workers to build digital capabilities followed at 29%.
To address this, 36% of businesses said they were looking to the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) for ways to improve their manpower needs and talent pipeline. The ITMs were launched in 2016 as a framework for trade associations, companies and the government to prepare each sector for the future. A total of 23 ITMs covering 80% of the Singapore economy had been developed.
How the picture had developed since 2017
The concerns were not new in 2018. In 2017, 28% of businesses had found digital innovation crucial to their survival. Looking to 2019, businesses said they would prioritise developing digital capabilities (39%) and reviewing their business model or structure (33%). The survey’s own framing was that manpower problems carried over from 2017 into 2018.
A separate global report in late 2017 pointed the same way. It found that digital talent and entrepreneurial spirit continued to concern Singapore businesses despite strong government backing and developed ICT infrastructure. The report scored overall confidence in Singapore’s environment for digital transformation at 6.89 on a 10-point scale, behind emerging Asian cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi and Beijing. Singapore performed most poorly on “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” (21st) and “People and Skills” (18th).
What the concerns meant for technology buyers
The two surveys point to the same pressures on IT teams in Singapore in 2018. Budgets for new systems were under strain from implementation costs. The people needed to run those systems were hard to hire and expensive to retrain. For IT vendors and integrators selling to Singapore firms, this suggests that cost, skills and support mattered as much as the technology on offer.
The same themes were still visible in Singapore business surveys in 2026. SBF reported in a later survey that businesses overwhelmingly recognised the importance of digital transformation. The same release said companies were spending 11% of their budget on digitalisation and were well invested in cloud, e-payment and cybersecurity. Its headline said more businesses cited high costs and a lack of skilled staff and capabilities as key challenges to technology adoption.
In August 2026, a survey by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry put rising business costs as the biggest concern. It also found that 45 percent of respondents were experimenting with off-the-shelf artificial intelligence tools, although limited expertise and implementation costs remained key barriers to wider adoption.