Embrace rapid technology to stay relevant, Yayasan Peneraju tell youths

KUALA LUMPUR: Yayasan Peneraju Pendidikan Bumiputera (Yayasan Peneraju) urged its scholars to be quick in embracing the right knowledge and skills amidst the rapid smart technology which has taken over every aspect of human lives.

Chief executive officer Mohd Muzzammil Ismail said young human capital needs to be retrained and upgrade themselves to be efficient, well-informed and data-driven.

“These skills are now part and parcel in the current working requirements and this is happening all over the world. Malaysians, especially Bumiputeras with technology skills will have an added advantage in securing jobs during hard times since most industries are accelerating their adoption in digitalisation.

“Our scholars should be prepared for jobs that may not exist in the future and they need to reskill and have learning agility to change and be responsive to the changes,” he said at the recent 2021 Peneraju Profesional Finance, Banking and Investment (FBI) Virtual Forum, co-organised by Yayasan Peneraju and Efficient Frontier Consulting (EFC).

Automation, in tandem with the Covid-19 pandemic, is creating a ‘double-disruption’ scenario for future job seekers leading to whether professional jobs would still be relevant as companies will reduce full-time workforce with robots gradually taking over including professional jobs.

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) report, by 2025, automation and a new division of labour between humans and machines will disrupt 85 million jobs globally in medium and large businesses across 15 industries and 26 economies.

According to WEF, over 50 per cent of employers surveyed said they expected to speed up the automation of some roles in their companies, while 43 percent felt they were likely to cut jobs across the globe because of technological advancements.

“The current Covid-19 pandemic had sped up the adoption of new technologies as firms are trying to cut costs and adapt to new ways of working, hence offering a double threat to the employees, from the accelerating automation and the fallout from the Covid-19 recession.

“As it is right now, with the increasing number of unemployed graduates year on year as the requirements of employers have changed and automation has taken jobs of human, nobody can be sure of what the future will hold for the millennials and future graduates.

“Our millennials must catch up with the recent phenomenon in smart technology and need to adapt and adopt the changes and continuously to reskill and upskill as more companies are now banking on talents that can withstand headwinds and tailwinds of any economic scenario,” Mohd Muzzammil said.

Yayasan Peneraju, an agency under the Prime Minister’s Department, has been mandated to increase the quality, quantity and relevance of bumiputera talents in high-income economy through academic, vocational, professional and specialist certification programmes.

It has developed over 35,000 young human capital in various fields through its 261 funding programmes, distributing a total allocation of RM716 million since it was established nine years ago.

The FBI Virtual Forum was attended by more than 400 participants including the existing scholars and new intakes of Peneraju Profesional chartered financial analysts (CFA), Peneraju profesional financial risk managers (FRM) programmes, and 4 new programmes namely certified shariah advisor & practitioner, chartered banker, certified internal auditor and chartered institute of marketing professional digital marketeer.

Also participated in the forum were the existing and aspiring Peneraju Tunas scholars who look forward to pursuing related professional fields in the future.

Currently, Malaysia faces a shortage of CFAs and FRMs, with only 800 registered CFA charterholders and 93 certified FRM registered so far, and only 115 and 15 of them, respectively, are Bumiputeras.

“Improving human capital through relevant curriculum and learning opportunities are important. Yayasan Peneraju, together with our advisory bodies, industry partners, programme partners and learning institutions always ensure that our programmes are highly relevant with up-to-date modules.

“It is also our aspiration to be a key player in supplying competent human capital into Malaysian industries that would help boost our export markets and reduce our import reliance, hence supporting our government’s income.

“Yayasan Peneraju has always emphasised on producing future ready generations so that these talents can contributing towards alleviating the socio-economy of our nation,” he said.

Industry experts and investment professionals were invited as speakers in the forum including

Amanie Group founder and chairman Datuk Dr Mohd Daud Bakar, who is also Bank Negara Malaysia shariah advisory council chairman, shared his thoughts on ‘A New Narrative of Islamic Finance’.

He urged the need for a new narration in Islamic banking by integrating it with smart technology to suit the modern expectations of new banking and making it trendier and more fashionable.

Nomura Asset Management Malaysia Sdn Bhd managing director Regina Rahim provided a brief overview of ‘Market and Economic Outlook’ and called for future aspiring analysts to upgrade their qualifications, develop their skills, ideas and be innovative and embrace changes.

The other speakers were Malaysian Employer Federation vice president, Telekom Malaysia Bhd former chief human capital officer and Potenxia founder Farid Basir as well as Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia senior lecturer and Prudential BSN Takaful Bhd shariah committee chairman Dr Abdullaah Jalil.

Source: NST