On 28th March, the BMCC in partnership with the Alice Smith School held a luncheon on the theme “Bridging the Talent Gap for a New Employment Landscape.” The panel discussion between Tunku Alizakri Raja Muhammad Alias (CEO, Employees Provident Fund), Paul Ritchie (CEO, Tesco Malaysia), Paul Cooper (Managing Director, Michael Page Malaysia, Thailand & Vietnam) and Rachel Leong (Director, Group Strategy and Operations, Mah Sing Group Berhad) proved to be an animated and engagingly informative session on the challenges and learning curves of employment in a digital era. The discussion was co-moderated by Roger Schultz (Head of School, The Alice Smith School) and Jennifer Lopez (Executive Director, BMCC) with an attendance well over 100 pax at the Majestic Hotel KL, comprised of BMCC Members and various stakeholders from the Alice Smith School.
Covering the subject of current and future jobs, the panelists spoke of a rise in demand for technical (Digital & IT) and creative (Arts & Humanities) skillsets and how these have begun breaching the top emerging jobs in Malaysia. Delving into contemporary philosophies of work, most employees know what their job is and learn the how. However the ‘why’ is of equal importance. Hence the deconstruction and narrative portrayal of “why do we work” creates the rising need for content writers and artistic groups to achieve effective brand & product-storytelling.
Traditionally, career developments under the 4th Industrial Revolution were thought to only lead to the careers of technical expertise or arts & humanities. However, as elucidated in the discussion, there is an awareness of a third area which lie in between the two fields that seeks to understand data and humanise Artificial Intelligence. Jobs such as Data Interpreters and Data Ethicists have been created to breach the barriers between man and machine.
As veteran heads of companies, the speakers shared an emphasis on a passion for working for individual fulfilment instead of monetary gains. They conceded that since the employability of Millennials, the understanding of careers and perspective of job stability has changed from life-long attachments to shorter project based jobs. As much as this is due to the condition of the generation, digital disruption plays a crucial role in this shift and is causing various challenges to organisations in attracting and retaining talent. The speakers shared how their companies addressed these issues by inducing training and internal disruptions to prepare their employees for digital transformation and the reality when certain jobs today may no longer exist in the future. The silver lining in this instance is the creation of increasingly advisory roles, where certain matters such as financial planning will require a human touch.
The panel discussion ended with a Q&A session and an ensuing 3 course meal, with attendees taking the opportunity to network across the floor. The BMCC thanks the Alice Smith School for making this Luncheon possible and to Sunway Medical Centre for sponsoring the event.
