List of Malaysia's most critical occupations in 2022/2023

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Of the 37 occupations on MyCOL 2022/2023, eight are repeats from previous editions, and nine are new entrants this year.

The Malaysia Critical Occupations List (MyCOL) for 2022/2023 has been released, featuring a total of 37 occupations.

Collated annually by the Critical Skills Monitoring Committee (CSC), which is led by TalentCorp and the Institute of Labour Market Information and Analysis (ILMIA), the MyCOL was developed with data from employers, providing a big picture of the skills and occupations that are in demand within the industries. This gives organisations a better idea of the occupations that will be prioritised by policymakers, especially in the aspects of immigration, education, and upskilling opportunities.

Data sources include the labour force survey (LFS), salaries and wages survey (SWS), online job posting data, as well as previous critical occupations lists.

With this, the MyCOL defines critical occupations according to three main criteria: skilled, sought-after, and strategic.

Is the occupation skilled?

Occupations are determined to be 'skilled' based on the Malaysian Standard Classification of Occupations (MASCO) list, which is maintained and regularly updated by the Ministry of Human Resources. The MyCOL 2022/2023 uses the MASCO 2020 list to determine the skill level of occupations. Eight of the nine MASCO occupational major groups are semi-skilled or skilled:

MASCO one: Managers
MASCO two: Professionals
MASCO three: Technical and associate professionals
MASCO four: Clerical support workers
MASCO five: Service and sales workers
MASCO six: Skilled agricultural, forestry, livestock and fishery workers
MASCO seven: Craft and related trades workers
MASCO eight: Plant and machine operators and assemblers

'Elementary Occupations' (MASCO nine) are classified as low or unskilled due to their low education requirements.

Is the occupation sought-after?

An occupation is considered sought-after if its demand exceeds the number of suitably qualified workers available for the role, even after efforts on the part of employers to satisfy their demand and for reasons not easily addressed through changes in employer hiring practices. These occupations are identified using quantitative indicators of shortage, along with qualitative evidence from employers and other stakeholders.

Is the occupation strategic?

Being strategic means that an occupation is central to Malaysia’s economic development objectives. A strategic occupation is one that is closely tied to the growth of Malaysia’s economy and the development of its knowledge-based economy. This criterion allows the Malaysian government to use MyCOL as a reference to set priorities and allocate resources for its development programmes.

Top-down methodology

It is important to consider multiple factors, including employment, wages, working hours, and vacancies, when developing a suitable methodology to identify labour market shortages. The top-down approach accomplishes this by combining information from multiple data sources and using statistical analysis to provide objective, quantitative evidence of labour market shortage. It looks at a range of data sources to define both quantity indicators (e.g. employment levels and vacancies) and price indicators (e.g. earnings and wage premiums).

The seventh edition of MyCOL focuses on three sectors: construction, manufacturing (food processing), and aerospace.

Based on the methodology, the 37 occupations in the list represent 8% of the 454 non-military four-digit occupations in the MASCO 2020. Most of these occupations are skilled occupations at the managerial, professional, and associate professional levels, with approximately 30% being semi-skilled occupations, such as craft and trades workers. The full list of critical occupations is as follows:

mycol 2022 2023 list combined

Of these, there were nine new occupations which have appeared on the MyCOL list for the first time.

Quality managers
Medical imaging and therapeutic equipment technicians
House builders
Spray painters and varnishers
Building and related electricians
Information and communications technology installers and services
Food and related products machine operators
Earth-moving and related plant operators
Crane, hoist and related plant operators

At the same time, eight occupations have been appearing in every MyCOL:

Finance managers
Business services managers
Industrial and production engineers
Mechanical engineers
Manufacturing professionals
Software developers
Information technology system administators
Mechanical engineering technicians

In obtaining its findings, it was observed that the Malaysian labour market is facing a range of challenges that are affecting the country’s ability to grow and capitalise on global trends, such as the introduction of automation technologies. The shared labour market and employment challenges faced by sectors such as aerospace, construction, and food processing can be summarised as follows:

Skills shortage and mismatch

The skills and competencies of the workforce, particularly amongst fresh graduates, do not meet the requirements of industry employers. This mismatch is evident in the three sectors: aerospace, construction, and manufacturing (food processing). The highly specialised nature of the aerospace industry results in high competition for skilled and experienced workers from other countries in the region. Many employers within the local industry have seen their workers move abroad to countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates, in search of high remuneration and working conditions post-pandemic.

On the other hand, traditional sectors such as construction and manufacturing (food processing) lack skilled professionals with expertise in areas such as machine learning, automation, and data analysis. This was cited among the key reasons for the slow technological adoption in both sectors.

Underemployment

As the research suggests, many graduates are unable to secure suitable jobs based on their qualifications and skills, or jobs with remuneration that commensurate to their qualifications.

Due to "a lack of effective planning and investments in education and skills-based training based on the latest industry developments and trends", many graduates often find their knowledge and skills redundant or irrelevant to the industry needs.

For example, many workers in the local food processing industry who receive education in areas such as food science find it difficult to secure roles that are directly related to their qualifications due to the limited availability of higher-skilled occupations in the sector. As a result, they are forced to take up roles that do not make full use of their skills and educational knowledge when they enter the workforce.

Talent retention

Talent retention has become increasingly challenging for companies in Malaysia, including those within aerospace, construction, and manufacturing (food processing). Widespread reduction in economic activities and job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to many workers seeking alternative employment opportunities such as ride-hailing and food delivery services in the gig economy.

To add on, feedback from the consultations revealed that many of these workers were reluctant to return to their previous jobs following the resumption of business activities, as they tend to enjoy higher earning potential and greater work flexibility working in the gig economy. Coupled with the fact that many skilled workers previously working in Malaysia permanently returned to their respective countries, this has resulted in a shortage of competent skilled and semi-skilled workers in the local labour market.

Other specific employment challenges faced by each individual sector include:

Aerospace