Malaysia’s employment landscape undergoing significant shift
KuaLa LuMPuR: Malaysia’s employment landscape has witnessed a significant shift towards non-traditional forms of work, with gig and global hiring being part of the structure.
Deel, a global all-in-one human resource (HR) platform said the shift especially in global hiring is driven by global talent shortages, especially in the technology role.
Deel’s Asia regional lead Karen Ng said besides technology, new groups of workers – including accountants, therapists, teachers and lawyers, to name a few – represent a key driving force for countries seeking economic growth.
“Deel hires locally and retains Malaysian employees to work in Malaysia for overseas and international companies, offering millions of people the opportunities to work with the best companies in their home country.
“With these opportunities, Malaysians can acquire new knowledge and skills that may not be available locally, allowing them to gain valuable exposure and upskill their expertise while remaining in Malaysia,” she said in an email interview with Bernama.
She added that as companies across the globe are now shifting from the traditional work-fromoffice culture to more flexible and global hiring and manpower sourcing, there is a need for a global policy infrastructure.
“This is not only to facilitate global hiring but also to recognise the existence of this emerging workforce and formalise its legal status, along with universal workers’ rights and benefits,” she said. Based on Deel’s latest hiring report published earlier this year, the top five jobs that Malaysian workers are being hired for globally are interpreters, statisticians, software engineers, virtual assistants and animators.
The recognition of these roles underscores Malaysia’s diverse talent pool and the increasing relevance of these skills on an international scale, she said.
The top countries that hire most Malaysians are the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Singapore and Australia.
“These markets are known for their diversity and opportunities are huge. Malaysians work in Malaysia yet gain international experience,” Ng said.
She said this change in hiring trends will especially attract next-generation professionals.
“Technical integration, remote work, skilled-based hiring, flexible work arrangements and globalisation, and remote hiring are among the top trends that need to be monitored and adapted in the coming years,” she said.
Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said recently the proposal to allow foreign graduates of local institutes of higher education to work temporarily in Malaysia in certain fields such as the high-tech sector could boost the education sector.
He said MITI has been working with ministries such as Higher Education; Human Resources; Science, Technology and Innovation, and various agencies to raise the number of students and skilled workers in the hightech field.