SINGAPORE: More than two-thirds (69 per cent) of employees in Malaysia believe they have the perfect job, however close to half (42 per cent) expect their roles to be obliterated in the next few years due to rising technology, according to the Q2 Randstad Workmonitor survey released today.
Results show that Malaysian employees are among the least confident in the region that their jobs will remain relevant with the rise of technology, behind only India (59 per cent).
“There is a misconception that technology will eventually wipe out the workforce, rendering employees irrelevant and replaced by computers.
“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 fulfil them.
“Such advances will also create new job opportunities in sectors that didn’t exist only a few years ago.
For example, the emergence of Big Data has generated new career paths including big data scientists, analysts, engineers and solutions architects, providing jobseekers and current employees with further job prospects,” Randstad Malaysia Director Jasmin Kaur said.
Employees should remain relevant by up-skilling and undertaking further IT training, and focus on skills that computer software cannot yet perform, such as creativity, emotional intelligence and manual dexterity, she said.
The quarterly survey also shows that eight in 10 (79 per cent) 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 per cent), Hong Kong (74 per cent), China (62 per cent), Australia (67 per cent) and New Zealand (49 per cent).
Meanwhile, 88 percent of employees said that they would change jobs to make more money elsewhere.
“While it is normal for a large majority of employees to view their jobs as a means to earn money, particularly given the rising cost of living, it is also vital that they look beyond remuneration to remain motivated at work.
“By viewing their jobs as an opportunity to contribute to the economy and their community, this can increase job satisfaction,” Kaur added.
The survey also found that 84 per cent of the respondents acknowledge that technology has a major impact on their jobs and 79 per cent of employees believe their job is a good match with their educational background.
Two-thirds (65 per cent) of employees think they will hold a similar job three years from now, while eight in 10 (80 per cent) of the respondents see temporary work as a stepping stone to a permanent job.
Seventy per cent of employees in Malaysia feel that temporary work is for young people.
– BERNAMA