TALENT RETENTION: Melissa says in addition to the Malaysian government’s commitment to propel the country’s economy towards high-income status by 2020, the current sluggish market conditions and global uncertainties continue to push the job market towards hiring skilled talent as companies focus on human capital development and talent retention.
KUALA LUMPUR: Skilled talents in areas such as information technology (IT), engineering and banking and finance are among the hot jobs sought after by the local employers, says Kelly Services (M) Sdn Bhd.
In its salary guide 2013/2014, the employment agency indicates an increase in the number of hot jobs for professional and technical skills within these sectors with the highest jump in IT with 37 hot jobs in 2013/2014 compared to six in 2012/2013, Engineering with 18 in 2013/2014 versus four previously and Banking and Finance with 19 against 13.
“These were the top areas which employers are most likely to pay to relocate talent,” managing director Melissa Norman said after the launch of its annual Employment Outlook and Salary Guide 2013/2014.
She said in addition to the Malaysian government’s commitment to propel the country’s economy towards high-income status by 2020 through the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), the current sluggish market conditions and global uncertainties continue to push the job market towards hiring skilled talent as companies focus on human capital development and talent retention.
While acknowledging that the country had a serious shortage of relevant talents in these sectors, a targeted approach like transitional tax incentives for five years to bring back skilled Malaysians to these industries will not be sufficient if not accompanied by the government putting into place policies that will help productivity and wages, she added.
The salary guide also noted those with at least four to six years and more of relevant experience within these sectors will see an approximate three to five per cent increase in their base income while an estimated 10 per cent increase in basic salary could be expected by those who exceed eight years.
The general employment situation in Malaysia continues to be positive as the ETP expects to create 3.3 million jobs by 2020 with the largest share in electronics and electrical (157,000 jobs), Heatlhcare (89,000 jobs), and oil and gas (52,300 jobs).
“As in 2012, Malaysia continues to be a key Islamic and Financial hub of Asia, hence positively resulting in the need for specialised talent in this sector, with a projected 274,000 jobs in the financial services sector by 2020.
“And due to more companies focusing on hiring the right talents to compete within their industry and markets, there is an undeniable demand for Human Resources professionals to aggressively focus on areas such as compensation and benefits, learning and development and talent acquisition and retention,” she added. — Bernama