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Showing posts with label Employment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Employment. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

‘Focus on long-term gains’: benefits of pursuing tertiary studies far outweigh upsides of being a gig worker

 

Brighter future: Numerous studies suggest that college life most often leads to more holistic individuals. – 123rf.com

 

Benefits of pursuing tertiary studies far outweigh upsides of being a gig worker

THE last couple of weeks had been a rather busy period for many universities and colleges which had their open days where they showcased their courses.

While most education fairs witnessed a fair share of visitors, the decline in the number of students completing their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), and the issues surrounding this, has caught the media’s attention.

In 2022, for instance, 3.8% or 14,858 of first-time SPM candidates were absent for at least six subjects. In 2021, the figure was close to 10,700 students.

In another report, a staggering 72.1% of SPM graduates surveyed revealed that they had no intention of pursuing a higher qualification. The same report also purported that Malaysia is not alone in witnessing this trend. In the United Kingdom, for example, only a third of school-leavers feel that obtaining a university qualification is vital.

Naturally, the following questions warrant answers: Why aren’t all qualified school-leavers excited to continue their studies? Where are they in the economy if they do not? Is obtaining a higher education qualification still vital given the massive role technology plays in our lives?

Reports by various commentators suggest that three possible reasons explain this trend.

Firstly, this may have to do with the prevalence and growth of the gig economy. Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), in a published report, projected that the Malaysian gig economy would grow to a minimum of RM650mil in 2025, largely due to the growth and development of local platforms.

The growth in the gig sector seems to be in tandem with the number of school-leavers in search of gig jobs.

Research suggests that gig workers can earn anything between RM2,500 and RM5,000 per month, with some claiming to even exceed RM6,000 per month.

One could argue that gig jobs seem more lucrative relative to the median salary of RM2,062 as per the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) reports in 2020.

In essence, the allure of gig money seems to be driving segments of school-leavers away from pursuing higher education.

The temptation of becoming a professional social media influencer could be another factor.

The ubiquitous nature of the Internet, coupled with the ease of using social media platforms to create content, is seen by some to be an alternative to higher education.

A third reason could be the belief that a higher education qualification may not necessarily guarantee better employment prospects.

While these are fair and logical arguments, there are many points in favour of having a higher education qualification. Let’s examine some of them.

Issues with gig jobs 

A gig worker is someone who works based on freelance contracts, usually short-term, in contrast to a longer-term fixed-salary position with an organisation.

Various industries hire gig workers, and these include the information technology, administrative, and creative sectors.

However, close to 72% of surveyed SPM school-leavers in Malaysia expressed interest to work in either the e-hailing or social media influencer sector of the gig economy.

The short-term benefits of working in such positions in the gig sector include flexible work hours, a low level of commitment expected from employers, and opportunities for working anywhere, anytime.

However, the main challenge of gig workers, particularly in the e-hailing sector, is the lack of a safety net. Typically, gig workers are not entitled to perks such as healthcare and retirement benefits.

In Singapore, Grab recently announced laying off 1,000 employees to remain competitive.

When companies in the gig sector decide to slash payrolls, gig workers are often to be first at risk.

In sum, while the allure of short-term gain is there, securing long-term and more sustainable employment, with a better safety net, may require higher education qualification.

Personal development

Numerous studies suggest that college life most often leads to more holistic individuals.

According to a recent study by the Utah State University in the United States, the major benefits of a college education include producing individuals who are more mature, confident and have a stronger sense of self.

This report also suggests that individuals with higher qualifications tend to have higher ethical and moral standards.

A three-to-four-year college process and activities allow individuals to work in teams and with people from different cultural backgrounds, thus allowing them to make more balanced, reasoned, and generally unbiased judgements.

Some studies also state that a college education often leads to individuals who are more disciplined and professional in nature.

Networking opportunities

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, met while pursuing a doctoral degree in computer science at Stanford University in the US.

A major benefit of pursuing tertiary education in this context is the vast networking opportunities that it offers.

Many successful companies have been founded based on the strong bond individuals built and developed as they ventured on the college journey together.

Although there are successful entrepreneurs who never finished college, the numbers who do, and start something after that, are significant.

Simply put, higher education is not about the pursuit of knowledge alone, but should be viewed through the lens of opportunities that it has to offer by connecting people. This is something that short-term monetary gains can never buy!

Keeping it relevant

To ensure young adults are lured into the mainstream higher education pathway, colleges and universities have a major role to play.

Firstly, these institutions must ensure that the programmes they offer are in line with what industries require.

Stated differently, the onus is on these institutions to produce highly employable graduates. This means continuous improvement to the curriculum, and taking input from industry players, is a must across all disciplines.

Programmes related to computing, technology, and engineering must be developed with future industry trends in mind. For example, in the tech sector, jobs such as prompt engineers, full-stack developers, blockchain developers, and cybersecurity experts are set to command higher salaries.

Institutions that offer such programmes will be sought after and thus remain relevant in the long run – and perhaps attract teenagers who may otherwise opt out and become part of the gig sector.

My son, a budding musician who wants to make it big and seek a career in the digital music industry, assured me that despite his deep interest in music, he will pursue a college degree as a backup. For a conservative and somewhat traditional family, this is reassuring indeed.

One may play a part in the gig sector. Nevertheless, do consider the long-term benefits of having a higher education qualification. Just in case.

Prof Dr Murali Raman is the deputy vice-chancellor (Academic Development & Strategy) overseeing postgraduate and continuous education at Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU). Focused on executive training and consultancy, his niche training areas include design thinking, coloured brain communication and emotional drivers, digital economy, crafting digital strategies, and mindset change. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. 

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Protection, aid for gig workers

 

Gig economy commission to improve welfare of workers ...


In support for better protection for Gig workers

The gig economy has experienced rapid growth in Malaysia, becoming a significant source of income for numerous Malaysians. - NSTP/L.MANIMARAN

 https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2023/06/922968/support-better-protection-gig-workers

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Starting salaries are higher now

 

Having what it takes: Among the criteria that recruiters look at before hiring were if prospective employees were willing to take up the challenges and go the extra mile to execute and deliver their work. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star

 

https://cdn.thestar.com.my/Content/Images/job_vacancies_19052023.jpg

GEORGE TOWN: Starting salaries for fresh graduates entering the job market has risen by about 30% compared with before the pandemic due to lifestyle and high cost of living, say recruiters and human resource practitioners.

In Penang’s hotel and tourism industries, starting salaries for fresh graduates now are at RM2,500 onwards while in the manufacturing sector, the starting salary for engineers can be RM4,000 and as much as RM5,000.

Malaysia Association of Hotels (MAH) Penang chairman Tony Goh said the higher salary is due to the supply and demand in the tourism industry and taking into account the current higher cost of living.

“For us now, salaries are definitely higher compared with before the pandemic. We don’t expect them (new graduates) to work with a basic salary of RM1,300 to RM1,500 like before.

 “The second thing is, people must be able to sustain the lifestyle they need while working with us, hence the need for higher basic salaries,” he said.

He said the minimum wage rule imposed by the government last year contributed to the generally higher salaries for all other positions now.

He said new graduates who are eligible and qualified would be paid a basic salary of around RM2,500, excluding allowances.

Since May 1 last year, employers with five or more workers were required by the Minimum Wages Order 2022 to increase the minimum wage to RM1,500.

Goh said among the careers sought by new graduates in the hotel and tourism industries are receptionists, executives, sales coordinators and administration executives.

In an exclusive report yesterday, The Star revealed that industry research showed that fresh graduates’ salaries ranged from about RM2,600 to almost RM2,900 in the Klang Valley and Johor Baru, while it was about RM2,400 in Melaka.Leaders of business NGOs interviewed opined that fresh graduates should manage their starting salary expectations, on top of reviewing their life goals.

But a check in Penang’s manufacturing sector showed that graduates with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) capabilities might enjoy a much better starting point.

Factories can pay fresh graduates as much as RM5,000 if they are involved in the design and development of integrated circuits, said Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association’s Datuk Seri Wong Siew Hai.

“Generally, any STEM graduate working in Penang’s factories can expect a starting pay of about RM3,500,” he said.

He urged parents to help their children develop a passion for STEM to give them a good starting point after getting their first degree.

Pentamaster Corporation Berhad group executive chairman Chuah Choon Bin said the median salary for STEM graduates in Penang now is about RM4,000, and this is due to the surge in foreign direct investments (FDIs) in Penang last year.

“Because of the high FDI, there is a lot of competition for manpower, so multinational companies increase the offered pay to attract skilled workers and fresh graduates,” he said.

Chuah, however, said this year, the hiring wave is down a bit due to the slowing global consumer market, the trade war and the war between Russia and Ukraine.

He said some companies have started slashing down their workforce by implementing voluntary separation schemes and shortening operating hours to cut costs.

Chuah said he expects the slowdown to continue until the end of the year, depending on the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war and how intense the trade war between the United States and China would be.

Human resource specialist Azimah Aziz said that normally starting salaries are based on job scope and the candidate’s experience.

“For example, for the starting salary of a research assistant in aquaculture, the basic pay starts from RM2,900 for a fresh graduate,” she said.

She said among the criteria that recruiters look at before hiring were if prospective employees were willing to take up the challenges and go the extra mile to execute and deliver their work. 

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Fresh grads want too much

thestar.com.my/news/nation/20

... if you have a Master’s degree, it sets you apart from others and your employability may be higher for a managerial position in the industry, compared with someone who does not possess such a qualification...


 
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Saturday, February 18, 2023

Learn­ing is key to resi­li­ence in busi­ness

 

NINE out of 10 learn­ing and devel­op­ment (L&D) pro­fes­sion­als in this region believe that pro­act­ively build­ing employee skills for today and tomor­row will help nav­ig­ate the evolving future of work.

L&D helps organ­isa­tions thrive amid uncer­tain eco­nomic times and a people-cent­ric cul­ture recog­nises that organ­isa­tional suc­cess depends on people’s suc­cess.

  

Man­age­ment, com­mu­nic­a­tion and sales are some of the top in-demand skills that are highly sought after by com­pan­ies in Malay­sia, accord­ing to Linkedin’s latest “Work­place Learn­ing Report”. 

Since upskilling and reskilling are essen­tial, over half of those L&D lead­ers across Malay­sia, Singa­pore and the Phil­ip­pines sur­veyed expect to have more spend­ing power in 2023.

The report said reten­tion is a big issue as 93% of organ­isa­tions are con­cerned over it.

This is so since many organ­isa­tions grappled with unpre­ced­en­ted employee turnover in the pan­demic’s wake.

And even while some lay­offs have made head­lines in recent months, tal­ent devel­op­ment pro­fes­sion­als con­tinue to grapple with skills short­ages and turnover risk for crit­ical tal­ent.

It is not sur­pris­ing that attri­tion anxi­et­ies per­sist.

People who are not learn­ing nor­mally leave organ­isa­tions as they do not fit or grapple to under­stand the new ways of doing things. 

Com­piled by B.k. SIDHU bksidhu@the­star.com.my 

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Monday, February 13, 2023

Tight job market? AI meets worker shortage

FILE PHOTO-OpenAI and ChatGPT logos are seen in this illustration taken, February 3, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

THE two investment obsessions of the year so far – artificial intelligence (AI) and super-tight labour markets – meet head on.

If the hype about the former is to be believed, concern about the inflationary impact of the latter should be well wide of the mark. If only they were so perfectly aligned.

Timing is everything of course. The speed with which ChatGPT-style AI tools zap swathes of white-collar desk jobs could be more glacial than any Big Tech rah-rah suggests – and at least slower than the 12-18 months of the Federal Reserve’s current policy horizon.

But two reasonable questions are being asked around investment houses.

Does the wave of layoffs in the digital and banking worlds this year relate directly to the presumed quantum leap in so-called generative AI – just as pandemic-related overstaffing and more recent job hoarding is being pared back?

And if it does, should policymakers relax more about what could be temporary worker shortages in the service sector, where most of the wage and inflation concerns seem to centre?

Far from relaxing, should office or home-based workers now fret that we’re in for anything but a tight jobs market over the coming years?

More questions than answers perhaps – but enough to have investment strategists thinking laterally and joining dots.

Morgan Stanley’s thematic research team said last week it was inundated with enquiries about generative AI during its recent client visits.

And while investment fads come and go, they said, this one is “worth considering seriously” given the speed of take-up and its diffusion across many industries.

Aside from stock price and valuation frenzies, the team said a new wave of AI fed the debate about white-collar industry disruption in a “creative destruction moment” – with possible side benefits from reskilling workers to better wage diffusion.

Citing numbers indicating employment in business, knowledge, customer and developer outsourcing in excess of 100 million across Asia alone, Morgan Stanley said the impact was already being felt even if the jury was still out on “the degree to which it is deflationary or productivity enhancing.”

If this generative AI takes the tech transformation to non-routine office work that it largely skirted over the last decade, it will affect tens of millions more jobs than currently assumed.

The two sides of the theoretical debate at least are whether that then leads to mass unemployment and demand problems – requiring a reconsideration of things like universal basic income to support economies – or whether productivity gains lift wages and see workers simply choosing to work ever fewer hours over time as bots take their place.

London-based Fathom Consulting last Thursday concluded that a “fourth industrial revolution powered by AI could greatly affect the demand for and supply of labour” and the United States and China were bound to vie for leadership.

“The speed and impact of this change will be profoundly disruptive for global politics and for the structure of the labour market,” economists Erik Britton and Andrew Harris wrote, adding that the United States needed to keep investing in tech that both supports and replaces labour in order to retain its edge.

But just what is the scale of the likely disruption?

A frequently cited study by business consultant McKinsey from 2017 showed 60% of occupations worldwide have at least 30% of work activities that could be automated – even though automation may well create more jobs in tandem.

That tallies with numbers from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which reckoned 10% to 15% of jobs will be lost due to tech changes over the next 20 years – but about as many may be created in other industries.

While varying hugely among the 46 countries it examined, the McKinsey study said up to 30% of activities could be displaced by 2030 – with advanced and ageing economies more likely to move faster given higher wages and incentives.

More recent polling from McKinsey last year showed companies saying at least a quarter of their tasks could be automated over the next five years but less than a fifth of respondents reckoned their firms were yet in a position to do that.

And that observation underlines the timing of all this in terms of years. How soon do tech revolutions change the world – and at least aggregate demand or supply for workers?

As the flub by Alphabet’s chatbot Bard illustrated in spectacular fashion this week, the big problem for the latest wave of emerging AI is still one of accuracy.

“While ChatGPT’s output is credible, accuracy is its Achilles’ Heel,” Morgan Stanley’s team wrote. “Manual validation should act as a breakwater to this employment threat for now.”

If creases take years to iron out, perhaps it’s not so useful to see the craze providing a timely offset to tight labour markets and wage inflation.

There’s even a chance the trepidation may exaggerate the prevailing conundrum and cause as many problems as the reality.

In a discussion paper published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research last month, economists Marta Golin and Christopher Rauh said their work found a “strong relationship” between worry about automation and intentions to join a union, retrain or switch occupations, preference for taxation and government handouts, populist attitudes and voting intentions.

Much like the pandemic, fear of automation could have as big an economic impact as its actual spread. — Reuters

Mike Dolan is a columnist for Reuters. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. 

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Tight jobs market? AI meets worker shortage :Mike Dolan


LINKEDIN EMPOWERS MALAYSIA’S TOP EMPLOYERS

To assist companies in charting effective talent management strategies, LinkedIn, Shahul, Yee and edotco Group chief people officer Ramon Chelva will share insights in a panel on Feb 21, 2023.

Information and registration here: https://events.thestar.com.my/event/the-talent-magnet-how-to-build-a-thriving-workforce/

 

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