15 Top Information Technology (IT) Courses Malaysians Must Study to Land Jobs of the Future

Computing Technology Courses in Malaysia with High Job Demand & Salary

• According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Future of Jobs Report 2023, some 23% of jobs are expected to change by 2027, with 69 million new jobs created and 83 million eliminated.
• Companies will need new workers to help them implement and manage AI tools. Employment of data analysts and scientists, machine learning specialists and cybersecurity experts is forecast to grow 30% on average by 2027, according to WEF.
• Within technology adoption, big data, cloud computing and AI feature highly on likelihood of adoption. More than 75% of companies are looking to adopt these technologies in the next five years.
• MyDIGITAL is expected to create 500,000 new job opportunities and increase the number of start-ups to 5,000 in the digital economy, in effect, contribute 22.6% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product by 2030.

TECHNOLOGY and transformation roles across industries in Malaysia remain in high demand as more companies work on improving their business processes and delivery following the advancement in digitalisation. The country’s job market demand in the next decade will shift from traditional labour to high-paying jobs that require technological skills. With strong global demand, digital transformation in all sectors, and the massive push for digitalisation by the government, employment prospects in the IT field will remain bright for years to come. This will be especially true in emerging fields such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence, which are fast gaining popularity.

The prime reason for graduate youth unemployment is the mismatch of graduate qualifications with the country’s workforce needs. Graduates must align themselves with the changes of the emerging workplace, to remain relevant and competitive. A lack of effective planning and investments in education and skills-based training based on latest industry developments and trends have meant that many graduates often found the knowledge and skills they gained at universities and learning institutions redundant or irrelevant to the industry needs.

Part of finding the right career in Malaysia for you will be looking at the future job demand in Malaysia and globally. You don’t want to have completed a degree course and then not be able to find a job or realise that the job pays very low salary. Therefore, it is important for students after high school or Pre-University to choose the right course to study – you don’t want to waste your time and money on a course you don’t want to do or worse being unemployed finding out that the course you have studied does not have any job demand. Ask advise from knowledgeable and experienced counselors who can assess you, advise you with evidence based information and guide you to the best course that suits you.

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Best Technology Courses with Future Job Demand

According to a report published by the World Economic Forum, changes in demographics and technological advancements may lead to the net loss of 5 million jobs by 2020. In total, the report estimates that a total of 7.1 million jobs could be lost, the majority of which will be white-collar office and administrative jobs.

Randstad 2023 Job Market & Salary Trends Malaysia – Information Technology

Vibrant developments in cloud computing, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR) and blockchain will continue in 2023. Most companies, even start-ups, are moving towards Web3 technologies. As the third iteration of the World Wide Web, Web3 envisions a decentralised and open Web that integrates blockchain technologies and token-based economics.

The transportation, manufacturing, and supply chain industries will benefit from automation. In contrast, the banking, financial services and insurance sectors are in a constant state of transformation to keep up with evolving customer and business demands.

Between 2022 and 2027, MNCs will invest more than US$2 billion in developing data centres across the country. Cyberjaya remains the nexus for data centre development, with 14 facilities supporting 75% of the existing capacity in Malaysia. Other hotspots for data centre development include Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Shah Alam and Penang.

Tech professionals working on older technology, legacy systems or projects that are at risk of being phased out in the face of Web3 and 5G developments, will need to find internal upskilling and mobility opportunities to retain their job security.

The highly anticipated 5G rollout in Malaysia is underway, and the developments will further advance web evolutions and create an estimated 39,000 value-add jobs

For 2023, in-demand development and enterprise IT jobs include:

• software engineers
• data engineers
• data scientists
• AI agents
• cloud engineers
• DevOps engineers
• cybersecurity specialists
• IoT consultants

Rise in Technology  Based Jobs in the Era of Industry 4.0

Digitalisation and improved compliance regulation are predicted to be the key drivers of recruitment activity in Malaysia next year. According to the Salary Survey 2019 by Robert Walters, greater clarity on the new government’s policies and direction will pave the way for more positive market conditions in 2019. Meanwhile, job seekers can expect an approximate 20% to 30% salary increase in 2019.

Individuals with strong skills in digital marketing and digital solutions sales will also be highly sought after, due to continued investment in digital and the increased adoption of technology. In light of this, hiring managers are advised to be clear, open-minded and reasonable with their expectations during the recruitment process.

The demand for skills in emerging technologies such as robotics process automation, AI, big data and blockchain, will continue in 2019. As such, there will be strong hiring demand for skillsets in cyber security, digital forensics and cloud services. Increased investment in new systems and talent development can be expected in 2019, as technology continues to be a main business driver.

With the evolution of technology, the current job landscape in Malaysia has changed drastically. In many industries and countries, the current in-demand occupations or specialties did not exist 10 or even five years ago. The rise of technology has led to a disruption in the way we work and live. The Digital Era has changed the way we work.

Malaysia government’s focus was also in line with its efforts to meet the challenges of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) that requires highly skilled human capital. More new job opportunities would emerge as the digital revolution unfolded, and cited the World Economic Forum’s estimate that 65% of the workforce will work in the yet to be created job sector because it requires digital skills.

As the digital economy grows, Malaysia must be prepared to choose jobs that will be in demand in the future as well as still exist. 75 million job roles are expected to disappear by 2022 according to the “Future of Jobs Report 2018” by the World Economic Forum,. Furthermore, another 133 million roles are expected to emerge.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), artificial intelligence (AI), innovation, automation, Internet of Things (IOT) and other technological advancement would impact all industries. The Industry 4.0 will change the kinds of jobs needed across all market sectors. Therefore, students must possess the right skills to value-add, creative, empathetic and interactive in a technology-driven job landscape.

In addition, newer businesses are integrating machine learning practices in their business processes for purposes such as fraud detection and marketing automation in order to compete with larger businesses. These advancements are increasing expectations of an exciting boom in technology adoption once these businesses mature over the next five years.

A further result of this keen adoption is that companies with a welcoming approach towards technology are creating a demand for newer technologies such as blockchain, big data and cloud. This is perhaps best illustrated by the ecommerce giant Alibaba’s continued interest in Malaysia, rolling out AI powered products for end customers, creating a number of job opportunities for candidates with a hardcore programming background (R, Python, C++) and an understanding of complex data structures and algorithms. This year has also seen the creation of a new country office – a “one-stop solution centre” for local businesses designed to support Malaysia’s technology innovation through cloud computing services – following soon after the launch of its first electronic world trade platform hub outside of Mainland China, creating the infrastructure to support global trade with services encompassing ecommerce, logistics, cloud computing, mobile payment and talent training.

Top Technology Courses in Malaysia that Students Should Consider

What are the best careers for the future? How will everything change? Is it possible to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow—today? Many of us would love to have definitive answers for these questions. But, of course, nobody can say for sure what the future holds. The best we can do is make educated guesses based on past and current trends. Still, even educated guesses can help us imagine some pretty astonishing possibilities.

Here’s one thing we know: Change will keep happening. America and the rest of the world will experience social, cultural, economic, environmental, and technological changes. Some of these changes can be foreseen (such as the likely impact of climate change). But many of them can’t be predicted. New challenges may arise without any warning. And “happy accidents” may lead to positive new discoveries that solve long-standing problems.

So predicting the best jobs for the future requires understanding that all kinds of variables will interact in complex and surprising ways. Many of tomorrow’s jobs will likely result from today’s scientific and technological advances. But most jobs of the future probably don’t exist yet, and a lot of them haven’t even been imagined. In fact, according to one estimate, almost two-thirds of today’s kindergarten students will eventually have occupations that don’t currently exist.1

Of course, many of today’s occupations will continue to be part of the future, but they’ll undergo changes just like everything else. And many occupations will transform into something entirely new—or disappear altogether. It’s a lot to think about, let alone visualize. After all, many of us have a natural resistance to change and uncertainty. We might feel a little too safe or comfortable with the status quo.

That’s why it can pay to explore and imagine career possibilities like the 51 listed below. They can reveal new paths forward or suggest ways that you may want to adapt in order to prepare for the future’s most interesting or plausible scenarios. Many occupational categories are already changing and overlapping with one another, which is a process that may accelerate. But don’t let that overwhelm you. This article will show you several good career options to start considering.

Check out the best careers that you can get today as well as the ones that are more futuristic:

1. Data science
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
3. Machine Learning
4. Cybersecurity
5. Software development or Software Engineering
6. Cloud Computing
7. Computer Science
8. Financial Technology (Fintech)
9. Internet of Things (IOT)
10. Information Technology (IT)
11. Game Development
12. Network Computing
13. Mobile Computing
14. Digital Transformation
15. Digital Forensics

Roles In Demand

• AI & Machine Learning Engineer
• BackEnd Engineer
• Cloud Security Expert
• DevOps Engineer
• Front End Engineer
• Full Stack Engineer
• Mobile Developer: Android, iOS, Flutter, React Native
• UI/UX, Product Manager

Trending Skills

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Automation: Selenium, Python, Ansible
• Blockchain Technology
• Cloud Infrastructure: AWS, Azure, GCP
• Cybersecurity (Security As a Code)
• Data Engineering (Python)
• Software Development and Programming

1. Data Science Job Demand in Malaysia

Approximately 90% of the digital data in the world were created within 2015 to 20175. The digital lifestyle creates 2.5 quintillion bytes of data daily. The use of internet and the advancements of technologies have contributed to the rapid growth of data. MyDIGITAL is expected to create 30,000 new job opportunities for data professionals in the digital economy by 2025.

• Data Scientists and Big Data Specialists worldwide now and in the future, with hundreds of thousands of new job opportunities emerging globally. In Malaysia alone, by the year 2020 this need is expected to reach at least 20,000 data professionals and 2000 data scientists. Job demand as well as salary for qualified Data Scientists or Big Data Professionals in Malaysia is high
• With the rise of Big Data, Machine Learning and Deep Learning, the demand for quantitative analysts and data scientists is also on the rise, not only at FinTech start-ups, but also at large investment banks and hedge funds. These professionals write and execute complex financial models that can sift through and make sense of vast amounts of digital information. They may also design data-driven trading programmes, develop innovative algorithms using quantum computing and automate financial processes to minimise human inputs.
• A report from the recent Digital Workforce of The Future by LinkedIn, which revealed that a combination of skills encompassing Big Data, data analytics and web development registered a 21% growth in demand. In Malaysia, the top five in-demand digital skills are big data, software and user testing, mobile development, Cloud computing and software engineering management.
• Big Data Analytics Cloud and big data are anticipated to record significant growth in the next few years
• MDEC to set up an innovation lab for enterprises to test and access analytics tools that use cloud technology
• US$640.0 million projected value of cloud investments in Malaysia by 2020
• US$196.0 million projected spending in BDA in 2017.
• In 2017, Alibaba Cloud announced plans to build a cloud platform in Malaysia to enable local SMEs to succeed in the digital age
• Data science candidates need not only have research-level experience but also familiarisation with production-level ML. Solid understanding of programming languages such as R, Python and MALLET is a must.
• They also need to have hands-on experience with tools such as Tensorflow, Dialogflow and have worked on projects with large data sets. Having a profile showcasing technical skills on Kaggle and Github has become mandatory.
• 2023 Job Market & Salary Trends Malaysia – Randstad – Owing to its stable network connectivity and high internet penetration, Malaysia remains a preferred data centre location in Southeast Asia, next only to Singapore and Indonesia. Between 2022 and 2027, MNCs will invest more than US$2 billion to develop Malaysia-based data centres, to provide improved cloud computing services to the region as more businesses will rely on cloud solutions as they undergo further digital transformation.Cyberjaya is at the heart of this development, with 14 of its data centre facilities contributing 75% of the existing capacity in Malaysia. In the coming years, data centre supply will see a three-fold increase from another 15 announced and under-construction projects with co-location operators. Highly regulated and restricted industries, such as banking, are ramping up data centre development and capabilities because of their high computing, processing, and security requirements.
  Additionally, rapid advancements in cloud technology used across other industries means that operators must constantly upgrade existing data centres to meet business and customers’ needs

2. Artificial Intelligence (Ai)

• The World Economic Forum (WEF) in its Future of Jobs report, characterises Industry 4.0 as the developments of genetics, artificial intelligence, networked devices, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing and other smart technologies.
• In Malaysia, IT spending in 2018 is forecast to rise 5.7% to RM65.2 billion, faster than the projected global pace of 4.5%. The increased spending will be focus on adopting business digitalisation, blockchain technology and big data to encourage learning and artificial intelligence. According to Kelly Services 2018/2019 Salary Guide, 1 million professionals in the digital space is required in Malaysia by 2025.
• 11 per cent to 54 per cent of jobs in Malaysia can be significantly affected by AI in the next two decades and 7.4 per cent of Malaysian workers are at risk of being displaced by 2028.

3. Cybersecurity Job Demand in Malaysia

According to independent market research firm Providence Strategic Partners, the total cybersecurity industry in Malaysia is forecasted to grow by 18.7% CAGR from an estimated RM3.9 billion in 2021 to RM5.5 billion in 2023.

Following the announcement of the Malaysia Budget 2023,
RM73 million has been allocated to CyberSecurity Malaysia
(CSM) to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity resilience
and to combat the rise in scams. Among the other initiatives,
there were also plans to upgrade the nation’s connectivity and
infrastructure.

Despite the rapid industry growth, Malaysia still lags behind in cyber security talent pool development. Malaysia recorded a shortage of almost 8,000 cyber security professionals in 2020. Meanwhile, Malaysia Digital Economic Blueprint (MyDigital) has set a goal for the nation to produce 20,000 cyber security experts by 2025.

With the escalating threat of cyber-attacks, cyber security spend has also increased dramatically. Based on a report by GlobalData Market Opportunities Forecasts, IT expenditure in Malaysia will reach RM103.75 billion by 2023. As such, there will be a surge in demand for cyber security experts from security analysts and security architects, cyber threat intelligence analysts, consultants and cyber incident analysts.

Cybersecurity and data systems integration solutions are burgeoning. The essentialities of such services received acknowledgement by SMEs, and the adoption rate reflects the shift. And predictably, the top 10% of job opportunities in Malaysia are cybersecurity related.

Budget 2021 allocated RM27million for cybersecurity programs alone. That itself forms the fundamental building blocks of the digital transition under the Malaysian Digital Economy roadmap. Although data systems integration (internet of things, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data analytics) and cybersecurity remains one of the greater potentials, the government is looking into creating 5G ecosystems.

According to Forbes, the global cybersecurity market reached $75 billion for 2015 and is expected to hit $170 billion in 2020. In Malaysia, specifically, cybercrimes have increased at an average of 10,000 cases per year – the highest number involves online scams and hacking information systems of organisations.

In 2015, there were 1,714 cases of cyber hacking reported in Malaysia. This year, however, it’s shocking to note that 1,705 incidents have already been reported during the first half of the year!

The Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2022 published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – a specialised United Nations agency for information and communication technologies (ICT) – Malaysia can target becoming a cybersecurity hub in Southeast Asia. According to the new report, the country ranks joint 5th out of 194 countries and has a global score of 98.06.

In PwC’s Digital Trust Insights Survey 2021, we studied the recent trends and the next big wave in cybersecurity as automation and technologies continue to evolve how we operate as businesses. 30 Malaysian respondents comprising C-suites and non C-suites shared their views.

What’s encouraging is that 70% of Malaysian respondents say that they’ll adjust their cybersecurity strategy due to COVID-19, to consider cybersecurity and privacy in every business decision.

Sentiments point to a growing realisation among Malaysian organisations that they need to step up now to stave off threats, either through investments, new innovations to level the playing field with attackers, or better risk management. Yet, despite their best efforts to change, they also need to contend with an acute shortage of cybersecurity talent in the market.

The survey highlighted the shortage of cybersecurity talent in the market, with 64% confirming they would add to their cybersecurity team numbers within the next 12 months. The most sought-after skills included online security knowledge and data analysis and management. In addition, companies can focus on upskilling their employees to meet the demand for talent in cyber safety.

Some organisations have formally appointed a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), setting an important tone from the top for their business, on the ownership of digital trust (a role that should be aptly played by the CISO).

Asean’s cybersecurity spending is forecasted to grow 15% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) between 2015 and 2025. In addition, Malaysia is one of the top three Asean countries that are expected to contribute 75% of the cybersecurity services market share by 2025

• Cybersecurity Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (APCERT) partnership to promote intra-regional cooperation and cross-border collaboration in cybersecurity
• Cybersecurity Malaysia and Standard Chartered partnership to combat cybercrimes in Malaysia
• Over 10,000 cyber incidents reported per year in Malaysia 4. 6,875 reported cyber incidents between January-September 2017
• 30% of the cybersecurity environment to incorporate cognitive/AI technologies by 2018 6. 70,624 hacked servers were up for sale in 2017

According to a Frost and Sullivan survey, the demand for cybersecurity-­related jobs would hit 10,500 by 2020. Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) shares that Malaysia is one of the best ranking countries in the Asean region based on potential in the cyber-security industry.

Malaysia Digital Economy Corpo­ration chief executive officer Datuk Yasmin Mahmood said it was forecasted that by 2020, the industry would see a talent gap of about 6,000 given its current trajectory.  Cybersecurity strategists, cyber troopers and cyber warfare analysts are in demand in the market.

As it can be seen above, Cybersecurity ICT professionals can command higher than the average monthly salary of their respective job categories. Why are the salaries so high? One explanation is that there is a critical shortage of specialised cybersecurity professionals worldwide who are able to protect organisations from sophisticated online attacks.

In Malaysia, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has teamed up with global technology and information security association ISACA to address the shortage of cyber security professionals in our country. There are currently 6,300 cyber security professionals in Malaysia and a target has been set to provide 10,000 professionals by 2020.

Cybersecurity concerns, and corresponding countermeasures, will also likely be a major investment theme as major cyber-attacks continually made making headlines. Candidates who are skilled in OpenSource, DevOps or cyber security are limited in number but essential to digital development plans, so they will be highly sought after.

• 3.5 Million: A study by CyberSecurity Ventures shows that by 2021 there will be a deficit of 3.5 million cyber security professionals in the world
• 10,500: Number of cybersecurity talent demand in Malaysia by the year 2020 (Source: Frost & Sullivan’s recent digital talent study)
• Top 10% of job opportunities in Malaysia is related to cybersecurity. (Source: Talent Pool Report Pro – Oct 2017)
• 21%: The percentage of women in Malaysian cybersecurity Workforce (Source: Dec 2017 LinkedIn Report)
• USD 632.6M: Estimated value of Malaysia’s overall security services market in 2021 (Source: IDC market Security product and services forecast, 2H16)

With so much data that needs to be protected from theft or damage, governments and businesses need trained professionals in Computer Security or Cyber Security to ensure sufficient protection

Financial Technology (Fintech) Job Demand in Malaysia

• With the advancement of new technology brings new challenges and opportunities, it is important that Malaysia’s higher education play a key role in producing graduates equipped with the skills that employers will need. The explosion of the internet and the mobile internet has catalyzed the rapid development of financial technology (Fintech). Malaysia is also moving rapidly towards a cashless digital society. The WeChat mobile wallet is now live – the platform’s first expansion outside of China and Hong Kong. Together with Alipay and Samsung Pay, these players will disrupt the payments space.
• The Fintech industry covers businesses that use technology within financial services to improve a product or service for customers and this covers everything from payment methods to setting up bank accounts. Demand for tech savvy candidates with experience with e-money and blockchain technologies and digital transformation skills remains high.
• Malaysia has seen an increase in the number of fintech companies by 26%, from 233 companies in 2021 to 294 in 2022 indicating a strong growth in market demand. Digital payments have seen continuous growth in terms of transactions, whereby more than 7.2 billion transactions were made via electronic payment channels in Malaysia, growing 30% year-on-year.Moreover, MDEC is dedicated to supporting Bank Negara Malaysia’s Financial Sector Blueprint 2022–2026, which is to encourage Malaysia’s economic transformation; elevate the financial well-being of households and businesses; advance digitalisation of the financial sector; position the financial system to validate an orderly transition to greener technology; and advance value-based finance through Islamic finance leadership
• Perhaps the greatest barometer of Malaysia’s comfort with technology is the rise of the e-commerce sector, which grew to represent 6.1 per cent of GDP in 2016, up from 5.9 per cent the previous year. This rise is expected to continue, as the ‘National E-Commerce Strategic Plan 2016-2020’ initiative aims to almost double the industry’s growth rate to 20.8 per cent by 2020. As a result of this, Malaysia is witnessing an upsurge in both mobile commerce and e-commerce and is adopting an increasing number of cashless forms of payment including blockchain technology, e-wallets and even mobile payment applications, leading to some 17 per cent of Malaysia’s fintech companies being e-wallets and social network giant WeChat entering the already crowded market.
• APAC Fintech solutions and services are expected to gross more than $70 billion in revenue by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 72.5%.
• According to Bank Negara Malaysia assistant governor Marzunisham Omar, by 2020, digital banking consumers in Asia alone are expected to reach 1.7 billion from the current estimated 670 million. Malaysia’s Islamic financing is most likely to ride on success of Fintech
• The Fintech Industry will introduce the use of AI systems, already used in social media networks, to manage the Digital Ecosystems of established financial institutions. This allow for a uniform consumer experience amongst diverse types of financial services.
• Fintech investment ballooned from $1.89 billion in 2010, to $27 billion in 2017. The increase in fintech spending is expected to continue, with the Asia/Pacific and African markets driving a significant share of market growth. According to the Hays 2018 Salary Report on Fintech Jobs in Malaysia, the Malaysian finance technology (Fintech) market grew steadily over 2017 driven by new technology innovations and regulatory change. The central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, is working to raise the profile of FinTech amongst financial firms and insurers to improve the quality and efficiency of the country’s financial services sector. This push has created more job opportunities for candidates in the emerging technologies space including mobile and the web.

Internet of Things (IoT) Job Demand in Malaysia

• Gartner predicts that by 2017, 50 percent of IoT solutions (typically a product combined with a service) will originate in startups that are less than three years old. Malaysia also have their own IoT Ecosystem. Over the recent years, technology companies have developed more devices with capabilities to be connected to the Internet — including watches, televisions, cameras and others. A separate report by IHS Markit also suggested that there will be more than 20 billion connected devices in 2020.
• In Malaysia, the IoT industry is expected to generate over 14,000 new jobs and contribute billions of ringgit to the economy. According to MIMOS, the implementation of IoT is also likely to contribute RM9.5 billion to Malaysia’s gross national income by 2020, and RM42.5 billion by 2025. From the RM42.5 billion projection, RM34 billion will be driven by apps and services, as well as analytics solutions. Separately, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation added that IoT is likely to create over 14,270 high-skilled employment opportunities by 2020.
• Advancements in IoT are anticipated to drive smart city initiatives such as transforming Cyberjaya into a “living lab” for IoT implementations 1. $9.7 billion is the targeted economic value of IoT by 2025 from $2.2 billion in 2020
• Alibaba Group to assist local entrepreneurs and start-ups in training and developing etalents through IoT technology
• 125,000,000 connected devices in Malaysia by 2025
• Malaysia leading ASEAN in the use of IoT through pilot projects in agriculture and healthcare, e.g., smart farming and continuous healthcare monitoring
• Huawei collaborating with Sarawak State Government to promote IoT solutions, e.g., smart city planning
• UEM Edgenta and Microsoft partnership to drive digital initiatives based on cutting-edge technologies, such as IoT, predictive data analytics, machine learning, and augmented reality

Software Development Job Demand in Malaysia

Software development companies in Malaysia are steadily increasing their portfolios, but there is a shortage of skilled software development candidates for the growing number of jobs, says recruiting experts Hays in Malaysia.

Information Technology (IT) Job Demand in Malaysia

• The information technology (IT) industry is expected to face a shortage of between 7,000 and 15,000 professionals, as Malaysia rides the wave of the growing digital economy. The industry is currently in need of specialised workers in various IT fields. By 2025, the IT industry will require one million specialised working professionals as the industry is experiencing a rampant growth.
• The gap between the demand for information and computer technology (ICT) talent and the supply of that talent is large. Study indicates that the existing situation cannot even supply half of the demand by 2020, about 500,000 human capital educated in science and technology will be needed in Malaysia. From this number, at least 30,000 graduates are required in the ICT job market.
• The Information Technology (IT) in Malaysia sector is exceptionally diverse and continues to grow. IT professionals often move between professional specialisations as their interests and expertise grow and change.
• An evidence-based list of occupations in Malaysia that reflects the most sought-after and hard-to-fill occupations by industry, the COL report identifies skills imbalances across key sectors of the Malaysian economy for the year 2017/2018.The report covers 18 economic sectors and one of the sectors in demand in Malaysia is Information and Communication. The Critical Occupations List (COL) shows occupations that are skilled, sought-after and strategic in Malaysia. Out of the Top 58 Jobs listed in the Critical Occupations List (COL), 11 jobs in demand in Malaysia are related to information technology (IT).
• According to the Monster Employment Index (MEI), the country’s IT, Telecom and BPO sector witnessed the steepest annual growth of all local industries, increasing by 24% between June 2018 and June 2019.

Digital Marketing Job Demand in Malaysia

• There is strong demand for sales and marketing professionals in the e-commerce, retail and industrial sectors. As online spending continued to grow for personal care, fashion, beauty and fresh food products; candidates with experience in merchandising and digital marketing were highly sought after.
• Businesses are looking for experienced Digital Marketers to provide strategic direction on which online channels would best complement traditional marketing efforts. As businesses continue to move towards selling their products and services via online channels, we are seeing increasing demand for Sales Managers who can sell advertising space on these platforms. Being a major income source for advertising agencies, there will continue to be a high demand for these individuals.
• According to a Top Markets report, e-commerce adoption rates in Malaysia make up 70% of the population, and this is partly due to the government’s effort in pushing for online businesses. Job seekers can definitely look towards this field, as the sector is expected to grow by 34% this year to US$3.8bil, BMI Research reported. What job seekers may be interested to know is that Alibaba intends to set up a regional distribution hub here, which can only mean more job opportunities.
• E-commerce contribution to the GDP is expected to reach about RM83.6 billion in 2017 from RM74.6 billion in 2016, representing a y-o-y growth of about 12.1%. (The official 2017 ICT Satellite Account is expected to be released in October this year) The Southeast Asian internet economy is expected to grow from USD50 Billion to USD250 Billion over the next 7 years. The government’s efforts since the launch of the Multimedia Super Corridor in 1996 has put Malaysia in a leading position to benefit from this growth.
• Efforts to commoditise and industrialise the ICT and Internet sectors, stimulating significant changes in the demand and supply chain of Malaysia. By 2025, Malaysia is forecast to have 125 million connected devices and over 58 million mobile subscribers. More than 90% of netizens or Internet users will be active social network users, presenting immense potential for digital marketing and e-commerce. The Internet economy (iGDP) market is expected to contribute 16% to GDP by 2025, driven by demand for the Internet and digitally-connected solutions.
• By 2020, 14.4% of retail sales will be online, up from 3.1% in 2013. The future of retail will involve an omnichannel approach, amalgamating all touchpoints to create a unique bricks-and-clicks model.
• Sales from online retail (e-tail) forecast to grow sevenfold to US$6.1 billion by 2020, riding on the high smartphone and Internet penetration alongside rising disposable incomes in Malaysia.
• The Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) is vital in providing physical and virtual zones to promote digital economy growth and cross-border e-commerce activities.

Cloud Computing Job Demand in Malaysia

• As the vast majority of companies move important systems to the cloud, more and more are choosing a hybrid approach, with multiple vendors. In the coming years, cloud engineers will develop solutions at scale that are a mix of both in-house technology and outside systems — going beyond Amazon engineers working on AWS or Microsoft engineers working on Azure
• In 2023Amazon Web Services (AWS), announced plans to launch an AWS infrastructure Region in Malaysia. The new AWS Region will give developers, startups, entrepreneurs, and enterprises, as well as government, education, and nonprofit organizations, greater choice for running their applications and serving end users from data centers located in Malaysia. As part of its commitment to the region, AWS is planning to invest $6 billion (approx. MYR 25.5 billion) in Malaysia by 2037.
• Significant growth is expected in Infrastructure services such as networks, platforms and specialist areas such as cloud and virtualisation; Salaries of IT directors with more than 10 years of experience pegged at RM250k-360k per annum
• Data Centre Approximately 25% of enterprises in data-intensive industries are expected to adopt formal data centre planning, sourcing, and governance processes to expedite digital transformation (DX) efforts
• US$550 million in incremental GNI for the data centre industry by 2020
• 5,000,000 square feet of data centre space by 2020
• US$180.8 million revenue for cloud and data centre industry in 2017
• Announcement of the 700-acre Sedenak Iskandar data hub to meet rising demand for data centre space and services

Blockchain Job Demand in Malaysia

Malaysia has launched a work visa program which targets tech freelancers. The aim is to address a demand for blockchain capable talents.

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) (a government-owned organization that oversees the tech sector), a blockchain organization and a job marketplace jointly launched the program.

The program seeks to attract foreign professionals who will have the right to stay in the country for up to 12 months to provide blockchain-related services or undergo training at a Malaysian company.

The MDEC growth ecosystem development vice-president stated that the program will be kicked off by starting with blockchain jobs. The number of visas to be issued depends on the projects that will be run by blockchain companies in Malaysia.

As previously reported, the blockchain organisation established its Blockchain Centre in a 10,000-square foot facility in the capital of Kuala Lumpur to serve as an accelerator, incubator and coworking space. The centre also houses the firm’s Innovation Lab, a headquarters for the research and development of the company’s platform.

In June 2018, a Malaysian government advisory committee, Majlis Perundingan Melayu signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korean blockchain lab for blockchain tech development permissible under Sharia law. The parties aim to develop a blockchain platform and a decentralized application that would meet the social requirements to be considered permissible by the Sharia Commission.

In September 2018, the government of Hong Kong announced an initiative that seeks to attract professionals in distributed ledger technology by simplifying the immigration policy. The move designated the government’s intention to support Hong Kong’s development as a high value-added and diversified economy.

OpenGov reported earlier on the use of blockchain in Malaysia. The nation is working to build the first blockchain-city in Asia, with the aim of using blockchain to make the city the leading tourist destination in Malaysia.

Malacca, the Malaysian city, will reportedly be turning 835 acres into a tourist blockchain-city of the future, with support of the government of China and several major corporations.

The Melaka Straits City will be constructed on a total of 635 acres of reclaimed land, where boutique hotels and about 100 villas with a beautiful sea view and private access to the beach will be built along the coastline, while another 200 acres of the marine area will be kept for building chalets, and water recreation facilities.

More recently, OpenGov Asia reported that Malaysia will use blockchain for securities borrowing and lending. The stock exchange of Malaysia will be working with bank stakeholders in developing Southeast Asia’s first blockchain proof-of-concept for securities borrowing and lending.

The project will explore the opportunities afforded by blockchain technology to develop greater transparency and to address other operational challenges associated with the SBL market in the country. The project aims to ramp up efficiency, speed, and capacity in securities lending supply and borrowing demand.

It is evident that Malaysia is steering the nation towards digital transformation at a rapid pace. OpenGov Asia covered how the Government is looking to secure more investments in high tech (for example, blockchain-based technology).

The investments are necessary for boosting the country’s growth. With its a business-friendly environment and policies fine-tuned to accommodate investors, Malaysia is the perfect place for high-tech investments, according to the Prime Minister.

As the nation now begins issuing work visas as part of the new program, it is expected that Malaysia will see another spike in blockchain innovations and new distributed ledger (DLT) technologies.

Game Development Job Demand in Malaysia

The Malaysian National Creative Industry Policies, governed by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia has identified the gaming industry as one of the ten main categories in the Creative Industry, namely Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Music, Literature, Fashion and Design, Traditional and Cultural Arts, Creative Education, Creative Technologies, Film/TV/Gaming Content, and Culinary Arts. In 2018, the Gaming Industry alone contributed USD100 million to Malaysia’s revenue and expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2018-2023) of 10.9 per cent, which will result in a market volume of USD168 million by 2023. Malaysia also ranks 21st worldwide in term of games revenue, with the total amount of USD633 million.

In 2017, some 60 local game-making studios recorded exports worth RM600 million. The digital content industry includes animation, games, visual effects, new media and infrastructure platforms sectors. From 2013 to 2017, these sectors collectively grew by 6%, generating RM7.9 billion in revenue. At
present, there are more than 370 studios in Malaysia directly involved in various stages of development and production, involving over 11,000 jobs

During Budget 2019, a total of RM10 million has been allocated to develop eSports. With the commitment shown by the Government, the eSports in Malaysia is expected to boom this year as Youth and Sports Ministry also aspires Malaysia to be the eSports hub in the region. Esports Malaysia (ESM), a governing body for electronic sports in Malaysia has been reformed to address the concerns of eSports athletes and spearhead the development of eSports in the country.

In 2016, ASEAN decided to jump on the bandwagon by hosting its very own eSports tournament. Malaysia, in collaboration with eSports Malaysia hosted the first ever ASEAN Games for eSports (AGES) with a prize pool of around US$256,000.

Most recently, the 2018 Asian Games, held in Jakarta and Palembang simultaneously, had – for the first time – six demonstration games as part of its eSports event. The games were Arena Of Valor, Hearthstone, Pro Evolution Soccer, League Of Legends, Clash Royale and StarCraft 2.

The games industry continues to grow strongly in both Southeast Asia and Malaysia.

• Southeast Asia is recognised as the world’s fastestgrowing region for all online games revenue (PC and mobile included). According to Niko Partners, a
  leading industry market research firm, the PC online and mobile game revenue in South-East Asia is projected to reach $4.4 billion by 2021. This is driven
  on the strength of esports and new hit international games entering the Southeast Asia market.
• The number of PC online and mobile gamers in Southeast Asia is projected to rise from 300 million by the end of 2017 to more than 400 million by 2021.
• According to Newzoo reporting in 2017, another game industry research firm, average annual spend per paying gamer doubled from USD37.31/paying gamer
  versus USD80.31/paying gamer within three years. It further reported that in 2017, 14 million Malaysians spent a total of RM587M to purchase games.

Network Computing Job Demand in Malaysia

Few jobs in the IT sector can match the attractiveness of a career in network engineering. Apart from being highly-paid, good network engineers are constantly sought after by the leading IT companies in Malaysia because of their specialisations. Network engineers who strive to be at the top of their game must undertake a certified course in networking from a recognised institution or organisation such as the MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional), MCSE (Microsoft Certified System Engineer) or CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate).

Animation and Multimedia Designers Job Demand in Malaysia

• The Malaysian animation industry was worth RM567.86 million ($187.7 million) and employed over 3,000 people in 2016, according to the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) — the government-sponsored agency central to the nation’s digital content success.It reports there are now over 100 homegrown studios that have produced more than 20 original IPs and seen their work travel to 120+ countries, with an export value of RM132 million (over $32.2 million).
• Malaysia’s digital content market has grown substantially over the years. Here are the end-of-the-year figures for 2018.

Mobile Computing Job Demand in Malaysia

• As digital, mobile and e-commerce-related companies expand their businesses, there will be an increase in the number of employers recruiting mobile engineers and software developers.

540,000 Jobs in Digital Talent Required by 2020 in Malaysia

Citing a recent Digital Talent Report commissioned by Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) in 2017, he said Malaysia’s digital talent demand was expected to grow by 15% annually, that would require more than 540,000 jobs by 2020.

Digital talent is already in high demand at present and looks to grow even more in years to come. The World Economic Forum estimates that while 75 million existing roles may decline by 2022, it was also projected that 133 million new roles will emerge as smart technologies disrupt most if not all industries.

He noted that these emerging roles were related to data science, artificial intelligence (AI), software development, digital transformation and cybersecurity.

The Communications and Multimedia Ministry understands the pressing need to future-proof Malaysia’s digital talent and is addressing the digital talent agenda via MDEC, which has been at the forefront of tech talent development and nurturing for several years now.

He pointed out a great example of success at the school level, the MyDigitalMaker movement, which is slowly transforming Malaysian students from digital users to producers in the digital economy via digital maker skills such as coding, application development, 3D printing, robotics, embedded programming and data analytics.

To date, more than 700,000 primary and secondary school students have already been impacted by digital maker activities across the nation, the Minister noted.

Another effort by his ministry is at the tertiary level with the Premier Digital Tech Institution (PDTI) initiative, with the objective to address the huge demand for industry-ready Computer Science graduates by engaging closely with a select group of institutes of higher learning together with relevant industry partners to supply top quality graduates for the digital industry.

Over the course of only one year, there has been a 33% increase in intake for Computer Science and information technology courses for the PDTIs, and an increase in the employability rate of the PDTIs.

The Minister stated that the ministry was working with industry partners to address other fast-growing tech careers such as in cybersecurity, data science, AI, Internet of Things, digital marketing and creative multimedia.

To meet the fast-growing demands of these industries, Malaysia would need about 20,000 data professionals to serve the needs adequately, he said, adding that a recent survey showed that starting salaries for data professionals ranged from RM50,000–90,000 per annum depending on academic qualifications and technical competencies.