AS the local workforce continue to face an increasingly uncertain job market, nine out of 10 Malaysian employees (90%) see the need to reskill or upskill themselves in order to stay relevant in the post-pandemic world.
This was based on a recent UOB ASEAN Consumer Sentiment Study that also showed that 85% of the respondents believe that companies will prefer hiring multitaskers and 83% believe that employers might reduce headcount of workers by stepping up their digitalisation efforts.
Meanwhile, about 78% expects companies to use retrenchment as an excuse to cut operating costs.
Although it goes without saying that today’s workforce may face difficulties in securing new jobs due to the economic recession, UOB Malaysia executive director and country head of human resources Lai Tak Ming said that the pandemic has undoubtedly highlight the importance of continuous learning and development.
“The new way of working will continue to influence how organisations are run in a post-pandemic future. Therefore, it is imperative for companies to have a workforce that is agile and adaptable,” he explained.
“The crisis has accelerated digitalisation and it is important to have the necessary skills to meet the new generation of increasingly tech-savvy customers,” he added.
The time is now
According to the 2018 Future of Jobs Report, 75 million jobs are expected to be displaced by 2022 in 20 major economies, due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Not to mention, technological advancement and the new norm brought by the pandemic could create over 133 million new roles.
In order to realise the benefits of these changes, at least 54% of all employees will need reskilling and upskilling by 2022. This need is even more evident considering the current global economic conditions.
However, creating a reskilling revolution will require a huge amount of investment.
If businesses work together to create economies of scale, they could collectively reskill 45% of at-risk workers.
If governments join this effort, they could reskill as many as 77% of all at-risk workers, while benefiting from returns on investment in the form of increased tax returns and lower social costs including unemployment compensation.
When businesses can’t profitably cover costs and governments can’t provide the solutions alone, it becomes imperative to turn to public-private partnerships that lower costs and provide concrete social benefits and actionable solutions for workers. – Dec 28, 2020
