Nurturing Malaysia's Talent Through Greater Industry-Academia Collaboration

Almost a decade after the term ‘Industry 4.0’ was first publicly introduced, the world of work continues to be in a constant state of change. Many countries around the world, including Malaysia, have outlined ambitious plans to meet the challenges of the digital era and become influential players in the global economy.

However, as companies seek to be more competitive in today's changing business environment, ensuring an adequate supply of high-potential and high-performing workers will be a critical success factor particularly for knowledge-intensive industries.

Likewise, today’s talents face new challenges to develop their professional capabilities and improve their marketability, as more companies place greater value on skills or relevant working experience than academic qualifications.

Are we producing the right talent for Malaysia’s industries?

For many economic sectors, local graduates are an immediate source of entry-level talent. The stability and growth of local industries and the economy at large are linked to the quantity and quality of Malaysian graduates entering the workforce. Thus, it is critical that local graduates are sufficiently prepared and trained to meet changing industry demands.

Although companies regularly cite talent as one of their top business challenges, it is important to note that the skills shortage currently faced by Malaysian employers is not in terms of numbers but mismatch is evident. Based on a survey title The School-to-Work Transition Survey (SWTS) conducted by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI), this mismatch could be linked to the importance placed by employers on soft skills and work experience, in contrast to the academic and professional qualifications which are emphasised by Malaysian education and training institutions.

The same survey highlighted that companies in Malaysia generally have limited interaction with education and training institutions to share their views on what and how students should be learning to enhance their industry-readiness.

Aligning and intensifying Malaysia’s efforts on talent

To address skills mismatches in Malaysia’s labour market and strengthen graduates' readiness for the workplace, Talent Corporation Malaysia (TalentCorp) works to facilitate stronger collaboration between industry and academia to improve the quality and content of university education in alignment with employers’ needs, as well as greater employer involvement in training and producing high-quality graduates.

TalentCorp also partners with the Ministry of Education (MOE) on the Industry-Academia Collaboration (IAC) to promote greater industry and university collaboration. Through this initiative, we bring employers into universities to partner on curriculum development, competitions and industry attachments towards producing industry-ready graduate talent to support the country's economic growth.

Some IAC efforts include:

• MALAYSIA TOURISM TALENT DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM (MyTTDC)
  • A collaboration between TalentCorp, the Education Ministry’s Department of Polytechnic and Community College Education (JPPKK), and the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) – Hotel Chapter.
  • MyTTDC aims to facilitate the adoption of a structured and more collaborative approach to talent development for Malaysia’s tourism industry, which is a prime contributing sector to Malaysia’s economy.
  • This collaboration will also improve employers’ access to a talent pool of graduates from public institutions (IPTAs) of higher education as well as technical and vocational education training (TVET) institutions.
  • Strategic interventions under MyTTDC include industry-driven skills and knowledge certification, work-based learning programmes, externship opportunities, and upskilling and reskilling programmes.
• OIL AND GAS (O&G)
  • TalentCorp facilitates industry involvement in the Malaysian Technical University Network’s (MTUN) exercise to establish newly developed Bachelor of Technology Degree (BTech) programmes in specific technology fields. This initiative aims to create more career pathways and opportunities for TVET students.
  • TalentCorp collaborates with the Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) and the Malaysian Oil & Gas Services Council (MOGSC) on a series of IAC workshops towards the development of BTech programmes in the O&G Facilities Maintenance field.
  • TalentCorp collaborated with UMP on an O&G industry workshop in June 2019. This provided a platform to gather feedback on how to incorporate greater industry involvement in the course curriculum, and to also seek employers’ views on ensuring programme content and courses are relevant to industry’s needs.
• ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS (E&E)
  • In April 2015, an IAC initiative for the E&E sector was launched at the SEMICON Southeast Asia (SEA) microelectronics exhibition in Penang.
  • Through this initiative, TalentCorp partnered with the Education Ministry and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) to encourage greater industry academia collaboration across the E&E industry.
  • The pilot initiative saw 14 leading employers’ partner with 9 public universities to address skill gaps within key technology clusters in the E&E industry, including Integrated Circuit Design and Embedded System.
• GLOBAL BUSINESS SERVICES (GBS)
  • In September 2016, TalentCorp together with the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) launched the IAC initiative for the GBS sector.
  • IAC-GBS aims to offer a coordinated approach for the sector’s employers and universities to identify areas for collaboration towards enhancing graduate employability, and also raise awareness among Malaysia’s future workforce of the career opportunities available in GBS.
  • This initiative involves creating awareness; providing internship+ and certification opportunities; implementing curriculum embedment; organising industry-focused competitions and boot camps and upskilling graduates

TalentCorp collaborates with employers on measures that help them identify, recruit, and nurture top talent. We also support our partners, including universities and education institutions, in nurturing tomorrow’s top talent. Find out more at: https://www.talentcorp.com.my/our-initiatives/for-employers-partners/

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