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Malaysian employees worried about losing their "perfect job"

Malaysian employees are worried rising technological advancements will render them useless in their careers in the future.

According to the latest Q2 Randstad Workmonitor Survey, 69% of employees in Malaysia believe they have their "perfect job", but 42% expect their role to be obliterated over the next few years, thanks to technology.

In fact, Malaysians are the least confident employees in the region that their jobs will remain relevant in the future, coming in just behind India at 59%.

But is this fear justified? Jasmin Kaur, director of Randstand Malaysia says while she understands the fear behind the results, employees should realise technology advancements can actually create more job opportunities, rather than hinder career paths.

"There is a misconception that technology will eventually wipe out the workforce, rendering employees irrelevant and replaced by computers," she said.

"While this is true of some roles in certain industries, in many cases technological advances are just changing the nature of jobs and the skills required to fulfill them."

She cited a number of job opportunities which did not exist a number of years ago thanks to Big Data, as an example. Jobs like data scientists and analysts have been created out the need to better understand the data emerging from these new technologies.

"To navigate the evolution of jobs in the face of technological progression, employees should make it a priority to remain relevant by up-skilling and undertaking further IT training, and focus on skills that computer software can't yet perform, such as creativity, emotional intelligence and manual dexterity."

It is equally important for employers to ensure staff's skills are aligning with advancements in their respective industries, and keeping up with the major trends affecting the economy, business and technology landscape, she said. Then, you can define a more realistic career path.

The quarterly survey also shows that eight in 10 (79%) employees in Malaysia only view their job as a way to make a living and nothing more – a figure that is the highest in the region compared to employees in Singapore (75%), Hong Kong (74%), China (62%), Australia (67%) and New Zealand (49%).

Meanwhile, 88% of employees said that they would change jobs to make more money elsewhere.

[READ MORE: Nearly 50% of Singaporeans don't love their job]

The survey also found:

  • 84% of the respondents acknowledge that technology has a major impact on their jobs
  • 79% of employees believe their job is a good match with their educational background
  • Two-thirds (65%) of employees think they will hold a similar job three years from now
  • Eight in 10 (80%) of the respondents see temporary work as a stepping stone to a permanent job
  • 70%of employees in Malaysia feel that temporary work is for young people.
Image: Shutterstock

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