Closing the gap

Malaysian Business, Nov 16, 2008 by Mior Azhar

DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE world is now facing a shortage of people with the right ICT skills required by modern businesses, K - Workers Development Initiatives (KDI) is convinced that the situation in Malaysia is still manageable.

`Understandably, due to the dynamic marketplace, there are certainly gaps in skills needed for various ICT areas locally.KDI acknowledges this and is working towards addressing the problem,' says Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) vice president Ng Wan Peng. KDI, a part of MDeC, prepares a set of programmes - with necessary support, funding and opportunities - for local ICT professionals, graduates, undergraduates and MSC status companies.

Ng tells mb-e that they are aware that rapid globalisation has certainly heightened the need for skilled workers who can work with, and connect, any number of different platforms and systems globally. And Malaysia is certainly having its fair share of shortages.

But Ng believes that the real problem is not so much about lack of graduates or workers around but more because of there are insufficient skills and expertise required by the industry currently.

`Therefore, the time has come for local graduates to embrace the changing landscape to be able to compete effectively not only locally but also regionally and globally,' she adds.

Kelly Services (Malaysia Sdn Bhd vice president and country general manager Melissa Norman concurs by saying that the recent Kelly Services's IT skill study in Asia Pacific reveals there was significant overlap between the technical skills considered most critical within an organisation and the technical skills cited as the shortest in supply.

`Four of the top five technical skills and non-technical skills with the greatest shortage of ICT talent are among the top 5 technical and non- technical skills that are considered to be most important for IT professionals in their organisation,' she says.

The technical skills included applications development and integration, data management, enterprise systems integration/ customisation and customer relationship management (CRM), while the non-technical skills are communication, creative thinking, problem solving/decision making and initiative/enterprise.

She adds that apart from good academic qualifications and experience, business or soft skills are just as important for today's IT professionals for them to succeed in their job.

Ng agrees that prospective employers today look beyond the academic qualifications.

`They also look at communication skills, particularly the command of English language, and other additional skills before they decide to hire the graduates,' she adds.

Training

Norman believes that one effective way to overcome the gaps in both technical and non-technical skills is by providing training to both fresh graduates and the existing workforce so that their skills are in tune with the current needs of the industry.

Fortunately, efforts towards providing training programmes in the local ICT are already been initiated by KDI.

Ng says that KDI, through MDeC, is already working closely with the Higher Education Ministry to align the curriculum of local universities to the needs of ICT industry.

For instance, under the Industry-Academia Collaboration (IAC), universities produce graduates who are industry relevant. Other initiatives include the MSC Malaysia Undergraduate Skills Programme to equip undergraduates with skills required by companies.

In addition,there is Job Camp that focuses on assisting unemployed ICT graduates to develop skills and improve their marketability.

`This year we developed UGRAD-Scope International programme which is a collaborative effort between KDI and Scope International to provide practical training that will create an industry-relevant talent pool for the ICT and banking industries,' explains Ng.

According to Ng, with the aid of various KDI-initiated programmes, more than 7,000 graduates have filled various vacancies in several organizations since 2006.

She adds that they aim to train at least 10,000 more graduates in this field by end of 2009.

Apart from training the graduates, KDI also intends to develop re- skilling programmes especially for the displaced workers.

`Most of these displaced workers are experienced employees that may lack certain skills that are in demand today. We hope to help them acquire new skills soon so that they could easily get back into the job market,' says Ng.

Additionally, KDI will continue to focus on its Capability Development Programme (CDP) that is designed to help local ICT organisations to maximise their potentials by adopting global good practices and process improvements.

`At present there are 11 organisational development programmes offered together with a new initiative for individual capability development launched early this year called the "Get IT Certified" campaign. This initiative focuses on improving the skills of ICT professionals in Malaysia in delivering world-class services.'