AI, digitalisation, green economy offer new career options for Malaysians

The Impact Study of Artificial Intelligence, Digital and Green Economy on the Malaysian Workforce launched earlier this month focused on 10 key sectors that contributed 60% to Malaysia’s GDP in 2023.

PETALING JAYA: As Malaysia makes the transition to artificial intelligence (AI), digitalisation and a green economy to remain competitive and sustainable, hundreds of thousands of jobs may be lost, according to a study by Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp).

Ironically, while more companies are embracing this inevitable transition, employers are increasingly seeking talent with specialised skills in these areas, the study noted.

The study revealed that 620,000 jobs, or 18% of 3.5 million employees, across 10 key sectors of the economy are highly at risk of convergence or displacement in the next three to five years by AI, digitalisation and the green economy.

Another 1.8 million or 53% are medium-impacted employees who need to evolve and upskill to meet new expectations.

The emergence of this transformative trend will fundamentally change the concept of work in Malaysia.

“As AI and digital transformation reshape the nature of work, the highly impacted roles identified are predominantly manual and routine, requiring minimal skills, operating in predictable environments and driven by data.

“In anticipation of this shift, the government aims to enable our workforce through upskilling and reskilling initiatives to ensure Malaysian professionals possess the essential competencies in AI, digital and green economy, equipping them to excel in a future-oriented economy,” the TalentCorp report stated.

The Impact Study of Artificial Intelligence, Digital and Green Economy on the Malaysian Workforce focused on 10 key sectors, namely aerospace, chemicals, electrical and electronics (E&E), energy and power, food manufacturing and services, global business services, ICT, medical devices, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and wholesale and retail trade.

Collectively, these sectors contributed RM933 billion or 60% to Malaysia’s GDP in 2023.

Most impacted sectors

The study found that large multinational corporations (MNCs) have rapidly embraced AI and digital technologies, resulting in significant workforce reductions due to automation efficiency and reliability.

In contrast, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which represent 90% of the E&E sector, are adopting these technologies at a slower pace.

Due to their large employee populations, the wholesale and retail trade, and food manufacturing and services sectors have the highest number of highly impacted employees.

Human resources minister Steven Sim said his ministry is working to help pivot the 620,000 highly impacted jobs to other roles within or across sectors.

The global business services sector (GBS) is also notable for its 32% rate of highly impacted employees, largely due to its repetitive and transactional nature, which makes it more vulnerable to automation and technological advancements.

“Many GBS jobs, particularly in accounting, legal, and finance, are on the brink of transformation into global digital roles, accounting for 40% of the projected 73 million global digital jobs,” the report said.

However, there is a silver lining as this shift is facilitated by advanced analytical solutions, enabling GBS to develop new service offerings, such as tracking and reporting environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.

The report noted the green economy is revolutionising the job market and creating avenues for professionals to enhance their skills and contribute to a sustainable future through ESG initiatives.

The study identified 60 emerging roles such as AI engineers, sustainability specialists, and bio-process engineers, which are pivotal to advancing Malaysia’s green and digital economy.

Key recommendations

Arising from the study, 10 major initiatives were proposed to meet the needs of the various sectors.

The recommendations are distributed across four key stakeholder groups, namely the government, industry players, academia, and training providers.

For the government, it involves providing financial incentives for research and development (R&D), financial support to upskill and reskill employees, and pooling existing infrastructures such as technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and centres of excellence.

Industry players are tasked with formulating in-house training and development programmes, talent retention strategies, and strengthening industry-driven collaboration.

Academia will need to refresh their education curriculum to ride the AI and digital revolution, and extend internship programmes.

Lastly, training providers are to develop micro-credentials training programmes and onboard certified trainers.

For workers in highly impacted job roles, new career pathways are available with the necessary upskilling and/or reskilling, the report said.

Government to play a pivotal role

Human resources minister Steven Sim said his ministry is working to help pivot the 620,000 highly impacted jobs to other roles within or across sectors.

“Technology can replace jobs but it can also create new work opportunities,” he said at the launch of the report last week.

The ministry, through TalentCorp, will work across government agencies, industries and academia to future-proof the Malaysian workforce to ensure it can cope with the rapid technological and environmental changes.

To facilitate this, Sim said through the ministry’s RM3 billion fund, levies, credits, scholarships, and matching grants will be offered to support workforce upskilling and reskilling.

These will be made available through the ministry’s MyMAHIR platform, and the upcoming Akademi Kesuma next year to provide needed resources for skill development and career advancement.

The platform will integrate the outcomes of TalentCorp’s study to help stakeholders equip Malaysian workers with future-ready skills to navigate the upcoming changes.

Accessible to the public, workers and employers, MyMAHIR offers insights into industry trends, job roles, required skills, career pathways, and available training programmes across various sectors.

Phase 1 of the study was undertaken from April to September this year with phase 2, involving an additional 12 sectors, is targeted for next year.

The full report is available for download on the website of TalentCorp, an agency under the human resources ministry.

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