SEVEN professions have emerged as critical during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd critical occupation list (COL) 2020/2021.

They are animation and visual effects professionals; cybersecurity professionals; data professionals; digital games and eSports professionals; creative content designers; nursing professionals; and, web and multimedia developers.

“There are seven critical occupations that appeared for the first time on the COL,” said TalentCorp.

“Most of them are in the digital field and saw a surge in demand during the pandemic.”

Each year, the Human Resources Ministry agency publishes a COL to identify in-demand occupations and imbalances in skills across 18 economic sectors in Malaysia.

The list records skilled, sought-after and strategic professions that can aid in the country’s growth.

Based on COL 2020/2021 data, business services managers; electrical engineers; mechanical engineers; software developers and engineers; and, financial and investment advisers are also in high demand.

These jobs offer a pay range of RM2,500 to RM8,500.

Nine occupations are seeing a decline, namely cashiers, food servers, customer service executives, customer service representatives, accounts assistants, research assistants, sales assistants, personal assistants and secretaries.

TalentCorp said there are three reasons why some professions are emerging, while others are declining.

First is the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its acceleration due to the pandemic.

“Most companies heavily rely on technology during the pandemic and are now more receptive to automation and digitalisation,” said the agency.

“Thus the greater need for human capital development, training and upskilling in digital and information technology skills for the current talent pool and future graduates.”

More companies are nominating digital professions as critical occupations this year, it added.

“A total of 86% of the new lines of work that appeared on the list are digital.”

Second is the emergence of hybrid roles.

TalentCorp said as companies rely more on digital platforms now, they are looking into “hybrid roles” with a focus on digital proficiency.

“Given the slow economic growth since 2020, many firms are forced to freeze hiring or reduce headcount, so they tap into workers whose competencies cut across different tasks.

“Accountants and engineers, for example, are expected to be competent not only at their jobs, but also have skills that enable them to contribute to the strategic growth of their organisations.”

Third is automation, which, TalentCorp said, has already impacted certain jobs and tasks, particularly low-skilled occupations.

“For semi-skilled occupations, automation targets tasks that are easily replaced by machines.

“For example, a research assistant whose tasks traditionally focus on extracting and translating data into an analysable format is now being replaced by intelligent, data-scraping tools.”

Jobs attracting young Malaysians

Randstad Malaysia operations head Fahad Naeem said Malaysian youth are attracted to professions in banking and finance, professional services and technology.

Multinational corporations (MNC) and promising start-ups are also popular among the local workforce, he added.

“Jobseekers are very attracted to such companies as they can work with well-established and well-known brands,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“MNC are particularly attractive to employees who seek long-term career growth and holistic benefits.”

Randstad Malaysia is a headhunting agency that identifies talent in white-collar industries, including construction and property; manufacturing; sales and marketing; supply chain; and, technology.

Fahad said during the peak of the pandemic, many companies restructured their workforce to cut operational costs due to economic uncertainty.

This is prevalent in industries like aviation, hospitality and tourism as the demand for their services and products plunged.

However, now that borders are reopened, companies are rehiring to meet the heightened demand.

Fahad said industries like banking and finance, and technology have seen continued talent demand throughout the pandemic.

“Many companies are still in a digital transformation process and making significant investment in their infrastructure and talent to keep up with the competition.

“As the aftermath of the pandemic and digital transformation continue to influence labour trends in Malaysia, jobseekers are expected to have better capabilities.”

In today’s world of work, he said, employers are looking for employees who are self-driven, and digitally adept and agile.

“Workers need to be able to think creatively and critically to offer fresh perspectives or ideas to solve challenges in the most efficient and impactful way.” – May 24, 2022.