Skills development crucial for the future of work
PETALING JAYA: Continuous skills development programmes, including those for upskilling, reskilling and training, will be crucial to ensure that Malaysian workers are able to adapt to the future.

Khazanah Research Institute (KRI), in its paper titled Shifting Tides: Charting career progression of Malaysia’s skilled talent, said new jobs around the world have been dominated by a transformative change due to several factors such as innovation, climate change, demographic shifts and globalisation.

“The impacts of these global trends will be huge for local jobs, with changes possibly causing some jobs to disappear while new ones emerge. This naturally means that the skills demanded are also changing over time.”

KRI said, over the next five years it is estimated that 23% of total global jobs will face job movement – a scenario where new jobs will be created and existing ones will be destroyed.

“The green transition, application of environmental, social and governance standards, climate change and adoption of technologies are critical factors in job creation.

“This emerging pattern aligns well with the National Energy Transition Roadmap 2050, which strives to increase investments in the renewable-energy sector and thus contributing to increased high-skilled job creation.”

Meanwhile, job displacement, where jobs are reduced or eliminated, can be attributed to slower economic growth globally, rising costs, and lingering effects of the pandemic, said KRI.

“Apart from these global macro trends, other potential drivers that could boost job creation by 2030 include rising incomes in emerging economies, ageing populations and marketisation of unpaid work, especially in social services.”

KRI noted that in 2022, the global jobs gap rate stood at 12.3%, consisting of 473 million total unmet needs for employment.

“Meanwhile, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates a slowdown in employment growth at just 1% in 2023, which implies greater difficulties in closing the jobs gap for the unemployed and those outside the labour force, further suppressing the creation of quality jobs as a whole.”

To address these issues, KRI said there needs to be better links between domestic economic sectors and the global supply chain.

“This can promote better quality employment with a higher rate of standard jobs, lower proportion of informal workers and lower incidence of dismal pay.

“The global supply chain would attract quality investments, which in turn develops high-value business activity and creates more high-skilled jobs within the labour market.”

In the Malaysian context, KRI said there are some similarities between the country’s national policies and global trends that have an impact on future jobs.

“It is important these these global trends be tracked and identified in order to prepare graduates for the future of work.

“Furthermore, the rapid changes in the nature of jobs must be addressed efficiently to provide better matching efficiency between overall labour supply and job creation.

“The ILO has urged, among other things, to establish a just transition to future jobs by harnessing the fullest potential of technological progress and productivity growth, developing effective policies for full, productive and freely chosen employment and decent work, and promoting the transition from informal to formal sectors.”

Otherwise, KRI said, fulfilling the gap between skilled talent and future job needs will remain a massive challenge for the country.

According to the Statistics Department, individuals aged below 20 received the lowest median monthly wages of RM1,500 in September 2023, remaining stagnant at RM1,500 for three consecutive months throughout the third quarter of 2023.
Economy,Malaysia,futureofwork,skillsdevelopment,KRI,upskilling,reskilling,jobs,talent
Continuous skills development programmes, including those for upskilling, reskilling and training, will be crucial to ensure that Malaysian workers are able to adapt to the future.