Randstad’s latest Workmonitor survey revealed that 87 per cent of respondents in Malaysia are willing to be re-trained to ensure their employability. This sentiment is highest among more GenerationX workers, with 92 per cent of respondents aged from 35 to 44 years old feeling so.
Jaya Dass, Managing Director, Malaysia and Singapore at Randstad said, “More companies are investing in technology as a strategy to recover faster and emerge stronger from the pandemic. However, this may risk further widening the gap between what employers expect of their workforce and the skills that the employees are realistically equipped with. To remain competitive, organisations need to meet the heightened expectations that their workforce in equipping them with the skills that will adequately prepare them for the future and to avoid unemployment.”
Many employers hire younger workers due to their natural affinity in embracing and working with digital tools, as well as their potential to drive technological change. Three in four of all local respondents believe younger workers are more attractive to employers due to the “tech-savvy” skills they possess. This sentiment is higher among GenerationZ respondents, with 83 per cent of them echoing the same. Dass said, “Even though younger talent are seen to be more desirable for their digital knowledge, employers should not expect or rely on them to drive the organisation’s digital agenda. Such high expectations of our younger talent do not really set them up for success, as they have yet to learn the know-how of working in a corporate environment, such as budgeting and project managing. Instead, companies should create a collaborative environment where employees from all different generations can experience growth together.”
57% said that current training programmes do not adequately prepare them for the skills they need in the future Though 79 per cent of respondents believe their employers are committed to helping them grow professionally, 57 per cent felt that the training and re-skilling programmes provided by their employers do not adequately prepare them for the skills they need in the future. Dass shared, “Employees and candidates are already feeling the immense pressure to develop new capabilities. There has never been a more urgent need to equip the workforce with digital skills in an effort to close the widening gap. Companies need to provide more dynamic and robust training programmes that can help their workforce gain new skills that will allow them to be more agile, creative and productive.”
The 2020 Randstad Workmonitor Q1 survey was conducted from March 13 to 30, 2020 with a minimum sample size of 400 per market.
