Hiring trends and skills required by employers in IR4.0

The Belt and Road Strategic Research Centre (BRSRC) and the Faculty of Accountancy and Management organised a webinar titled “The Hiring Trends and Skills required by the Employers in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0)” on 8 September 2021. The webinar, which saw about 300 participants, was presented by Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) Human Capital Director Nazral Safril Mohammad Sapari and moderated by BRSRC Chairperson Prof Dr Cheng Ming Yu.

Nazral (left) during the Q&A session

Nazral spoke about the evolution of industrial revolutions. He said, “Industrial Revolution (IR) in modern history is the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. These technological changes introduced novel ways of working and living and fundamentally transformed society. 4IR covers big data, augmented reality, cloud computing, systems integration, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence. For the outlook of 2021 until 2025, we view that the economic dynamics are volatile and strategy governance becomes increasingly complicated.”

He added, “MDEC contributes to digital talent, digital infra and data, emerging technology, economy, society, government, telecommunications infrastructure, digital economy, cybersecurity, communications, broadcasting and creative economy. Our mission is to upskill Malaysians to be digitally skilled and contribute to the growth of the leading digital economy in ASEAN, digitalising SMEs, growing startups, globalising scale-ups and supporting business digitally.”

In the webinar, Nazral also spoke about the evolvement of the global digital landscape, MDEC’s vision and mission, strategic pillars, digital talent landscape in Malaysia, talent development through public-private-academic collaboration, global online workforce, recruitment trends, challenges in recruiting, interview tips and other related topics.

Nazral explaining the global digital landscape and sharing tips for interview

“The top five digital skills sought after by Malaysian employers are digital marketing, software and apps development, eCommerce, big data and analytics, and database management while the top five traits valued by Malaysian employers are willingness to learn, problem-solving, communications, independence and able to work under pressure. There is rising unemployment due to the layoffs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, but don’t let this be a reason that stops you from the opportunities ahead of you. Each of us is different and it is important for us to know our strengths and weakness and from there, we can find ways to improve ourselves from time to time in various aspects such as communication skills, digital skills, negotiation skills and so forth,” advised Nazral.

“Remote work is the new standard and soft skill is much required in the current recruitment trends. Aside from that, it is an advantage to acquire technical competencies for non-tech positions. The most important soft skills are teamwork, communication and interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, adaptability, work ethic, leadership and punctuality,” added Nazral.

Nazral (middle row, middle) and Prof Cheng (top row, middle) with the participants