What are the Top 30 Jobs in Malaysia that has Future Demand and High Salary?
One of the main aim of getting a university education in Malaysia is to find a stable job so that you can take care of yourself and your family. However, nowadays, with the high cost of living, just finding any job will not do. You will need to find a job that has a high salary.
Keep in mind, that after graduating, you would want to buy a car, a house, and get married and have children. This means that you will need to have enough money to feed yourself, your spouse, children and most probably your parents. Factor in the costs of healthcare, insurance, education, food, travel, saving for your retirement and other day-to-day expenses and all these amount to a lot of money!
Research has shown that possessing high academic results doesn’t guarantee a job, it’s having a good command of the English language, possessing soft skills and choosing the right course.
To help you decide which course that has a future job demand with high salaries in Malaysia, I have researched and made a list for you to consider. If you are still not sure what to study, please fill up the EduSpiral Career Assessment Form. After evaluating your results, I will contact you to help match the right course for you to study.
You may also be interested in:
- What is the Best Course to study after SPM / IGCSE O-Levels in Malaysia?
- After SPM or IGCSE/O-Levels: Top 10 Tips on How to Make the Right Choice for Your Studies
- Choosing the Right Course After SPM or O-Levels Increases Your Chances of Getting a Good Job & Salary in Malaysia
- Explore Your Study Choices After SPM
- 13 Top Technology Courses Malaysians Must Study to Land Jobs of the Future
- Study Courses that has High Job Demand in Malaysia
- Top 10 Degree Courses in Malaysia with Highest Starting Salaries
- Top 10 Jobs in Malaysia
Do your Research and Find the Most in Demand Job with High Salary in Malaysia so that you can Choose the Right Course to Study
Darren, Finance & Investment Graduate
The International Labor Organization has estimated that almost 300 million jobs are at risk due to the coronavirus pandemic. Of those that are lost, almost 40% will not come back. According to research by the University of Chicago, they will be replaced by automation to get work done more safely and efficiently. Particularly at risk are so-called “frontline” jobs – customer service, cashiers, retail assistant, and public transport being just a few examples. But no occupation or profession is entirely future proof. Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), even tasks previously reserved for highly trained doctors and lawyers – diagnosing illness from medical images, or reviewing legal case history, for example – can now be carried out by machines.
At the same time, the World Economic Forum, in its 2020 Future of Jobs report, finds that 94% of companies in the UK will accelerate the digitization of their operations as a result of the pandemic, and 91% are saying they will provide more flexibility around home or remote working.
The world of work is in constant change. Email, video conferencing, and cloud sharing are now the norm and millions of people now work in the gig economy, rather than on structured payrolls. But perhaps the greatest debate about the future of work is centered on automation, artificial intelligence, and robotics, and their potential effects on jobs.
BETWEEN 3.3 million and 6 million jobs are expected to be created in Malaysia by 2030, but with the new age of automation Industrial 4.0, preparation and training are fast becoming the critical factor as the new workforce would need new skills.
Furthermore, the ever-increasing cost of living in Malaysia is making it challenging for fresh graduates and working professionals to support their lifestyle. In light of that, it would be important for students to plan ahead what career that you want to enter into so that you can choose a course that has future job demand and high salary in Malaysia.
By having a view of emerging job trends, it is hoped that students would be inspired to draw up study plans and select career choices and pathways as early as schooling years up to university level that will ensure success in future careers and work environments.
Graduates Not Equipped with Relevant Skills for Workforce
Gary, Accounting Graduate from University of Wollongong Malaysia (UOWM) KDU
Graduates being left behind, possess outdated information and lacking in relevant skills required by the industry, thus contributing to the rising unemployment rate. World Bank comparative youth unemployment puts Malaysia as the second highest to Indonesia in the region. With the hidden unemployment segments added in, Malaysian youth unemployment is probably more like 15-18 percent.
The prime reason for graduate youth unemployment is the mismatch of graduate qualifications with the country’s workforce 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.
Rapid Change in Technology Impacting Jobs of the Future
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.
In 2017, the McKinsey Global Institute found that about half the activities people are paid to do could potentially be automated using technologies that exist today. While few occupations can be entirely automated, 60% of all occupations have at least 30% of constituent activities that can be automated.
Some of the biggest changes will occur in jobs that require routine physical activity in a predictable setting, such as operating machinery or preparing food. About 50% of the work time in Malaysia is spent on these types of highly automatable activities.”
McKinsey says its study indicates that by 2030, automation could displace up to 25% of hours (equivalent to about 4.5 million workers) in Malaysia. Yet, the country’s job outlook is ultimately promising as the job losses will be more than offset by the demand for new skills and labour.
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.
Malaysia has a high unemployment rate among its graduates. Thus, it is vital for students to consider carefully in the early stages which courses that would lead to jobs that will be high in demand in future. 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.
Choosing the Right Course, Possessing Soft Skills & Having a Good Command Increases Your Chances of Employability
Dexter Leong, A-Levels at HELP Academy & Degree from University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
In a research, commissioned by the Ministry of Women and Family and Community Development, it was found that there was very little variation in CGPA between employed and unemployed graduates. This explains why the overall academic performance did not affect the chance of becoming employed graduates. On the other hand, graduates who had higher English proficiencies were employed compared to unemployed graduates.
The study showed that having good grades did not guarantee employment for Malaysian graduates. Therefore, graduates must have a good command of English and other soft skills such as analytical thinking, intelligence, independence, leadership, communication and computer skills and work experience.
The results showed that the chance of being employed rose with an increase in English proficiency. The only significant personality variable is leadership and technical skills and this variable consisted of constructs such as possessing analytical thinking, being intelligent, independent, having leadership skills, communication and computer skills and possessing work experience.
Most of these challenges are more pronounced for graduates who come from rural areas because they are less exposed to speaking in English and almost all of them study in the public universities where Bahasa Malaysia is used as the medium of instruction.
In another study by the Ministry of Higher Education on the National Graduate Employability, Prospective employers complain of fresh Institution of Higher Learning (IHL) graduates lacking the prerequisite attributes; more than 50% of fresh graduates are deemed to be unsatisfactory in English communication skills, and yet, many of these young, inexperienced job-seekers expect unrealistically high starting salaries.
Currently, deficiencies are seen in the areas of communication, ICT knowledge, and professional and technical skills which have resulted in an insufficient supply of employable graduates. This situation is further aggravated by university students not pursuing fields of study that are relevant to industry
Every year about 180,000 students graduate with diplomas and degrees from institutions of higher learning. The most common problems identified by employers are:
- poor command of English (55.8%)
- poor character, attitude or personality (37.4%)
- asking for unrealistic salary/benefits (33%)
- mismatch of skills (30.2%)
- choosy in job/company (27.7%)
- no demonstrated ability to solve problems (25.9%)
- skill knowledge not in-depth enough (23.8%)
As the main demand of industry is to employ graduates who are GSA (Generic Student Attribute) centred, from the above it is obvious that these skills are lacking among fresh graduates.
Choose the Right Course based on Facts & Evidence
Kar Jun (Left), Accounting graduate from Asia Pacific University (APU)
And to get a job with a high salary, you need to choose a degree course that has a high job demand and salary. Therefore, you have to do your research in choosing a course that has high job demand and salary. s
Malaysian students are exposed to the internet and to the jobs from overseas countries such as the USA or UK. Many don’t realise that some of these courses are not in demand in Malaysia or may not command a high salary. A lot of students after SPM or O-Levels just blindly follow their friends to the university taking any course as long as they can be with their friends.
Some students choose the course based on the advise of their parents, relatives or friends. Some of their advise could be valuable but some are simply just not based on facts or evidence of good career prospects. Students must check the advise given by so called agents & counsellors, and their friends and relatives to make sure what they said is true and supported by facts and evidence.
List of 30 Top Jobs in Malaysia with High Salary
Chew Ling, Accounting & Finance at Taylor’s University
- Programmers or Software Engineers
- Information Technology (IT) Specialists
- Data Scientists/ Data Analysts / Data Engineer
- Financial Technology (Fintech) Specialists
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Cyber Security Specialists
- Artificial Intelligence (Ai)
- Cloud Engineers
- Machine Leaning Specialists
- Database Administrators
- Network Administrators
- Actuaries
- Accountants
- Financial Analysts Or Finance Managers/Directors
- Bankers
- Lawyers
- Digital Marketing Managers/ Social Media Marketing Managers
- Quantity Surveyors
- Architects
- Electrical & Electronic Engineers
- Mechatronics Engineers
- Mechanical Engineers
- Civil Engineers
- Chemical Engineers
- Human Resource Managers
- Marketing Communications (MarComm) or Public Relations Managers
- Logistics & Supply Chain Managers
- Digital Marketers
- Animation and Multimedia Designers
- Game Developers or Game Designers
is biotechnology course have a high demanding work
The career in Biotechnology is in demand overseas in western countries.
is food science a good degree to have? im worried about the job potential and salary in malaysia..
It’s alright. But there’s no research nor salary report for Food Science
My nephew will be completing his IGCSE examination in November 2020. He is interested to study Foundation at UCSI and transition to their Aquatic Science program as he has a keen interest in marine life. We are concern about job opportunities in this field. Is this a viable field of study in terms of employment opportunities?.
It would be limited to areas in fisheries. Sometimes, it might be better to go for a course that we may like less but earn more than a course that we like but earn less. It depends. As you know, with Covid and economic crisis, money is an important factor.