SINGAPORE: While the most commonly cited barrier to career growth around the world, including 16% of those from the Asia Pacific, was the lack of career growth opportunities, Singapore was notably the only country where lack of support ranked as the most significant barrier at 12%, according to the sixth chapter of ADP’s “People at Work 2025” report series.
Jessica Zhang, Senior Vice President of ADP APAC, said, “In countries like Singapore, career growth often depends on having a committed career champion who can unlock opportunities and provide valuable guidance. Even when leadership roles, new responsibilities, or upskilling options are available, highly engaged employees may lose momentum without the right support.”
The survey, which gathered responses from nearly 38,000 working adults across 34 markets, found that 19% of workers globally said limited opportunities were holding them back, while others pointed to a lack of desire to move ahead (13%), limited time (12%), fear (5%), and lack of education (5%).
The report highlighted that over 20% of workers aged 40 and above said that lack of opportunity held them back the most compared to only 14% of those aged 26 and below.
The same gap was seen when workers were asked if lack of job opportunities hindered their career growth among executives and upper managers (16%), middle and frontline managers (18%), and individual contributors (20%). Among those who identified as racial or ethnic minorities, 16% said the same, slightly below the 20% of non-minority workers who did.
Of those who perceive they have few growth opportunities at their current job, 34% are actively looking or interviewing for a new job. Meanwhile, those who felt they needed to change employers to advance were also 2.6 times less likely to see themselves as highly productive.
Globally, 15% of workers believe switching employers is essential to their career progression, compared to only 13% of Singapore workers who thought the same.
The report added that among employees who see a future with their current employer, their top reasons were having career advancement opportunities (45%), access to professional training and skills development (36%), and flexibility in scheduling (34%). /TISG
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