KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 ― The rapid shift towards digitisation forced by Covid-19 has left three in five Malaysians struggling to keep pace, according to a Randstad Malaysia survey.

The findings suggest shortfalls in employers’ measures to help their workforce transition to new practices including remote working that were brought about by measures such as the movement control order (MCO).

Randstad’s "workmonitor 2020 2H” report found the self-reported difficulties in upskilling to be more prevalent among younger respondents, with nearly seven in 10 in the 18-24 age group versus one in every two from the 55-67 band saying they were struggling.

The report noted that while many jobs and job titles have stayed the same in the post-pandemic workplace, their scope and required skills have changed significantly due to the forced adoption of technology.

Remote working has also limited the acquisition of soft skills essential for well-rounded development.

"The opportunity to learn stakeholder management skills, new systems as well as resource planning is critical to the career development of younger workers,” Randstad Malaysia’s head of operations, Fahad Naeem, said.

"As these learning opportunities diminish during remote working, the onus is on the employer to create new learning opportunities and drive employee engagement initiatives.”

Unaddressed, the firm said this shortfall in development would have consequences to Malaysia in the future by shrinking the size of the skilled labour pool.

Randstad noted that employees have not taken things lying down, with 91 per cent of respondents saying they have taken steps to reskill or upskill in order to preserve their employability.

However, over two in three respondents believed this alone would not suffice, and that businesses will experience a more severe talent crunch in the future.

Other findings from the survey were marginally lower job changes during the pandemic versus 2019, with 33 per cent saying they switched positions in 2020 versus an average of 34.5 the previous year.

Of those who changed jobs, 39 per cent cited improved employment conditions and 32 per cent said they moved because of organisational circumstances.