Image credit: New Straits Times
KUALA LUMPUR: airasia Digital strives to build a strong and sustainable digital economy in Malaysia by creating a pool of digital savvy talents that will be in demand locally and globally.
President of airasia Digital Aireen Omar said digital will be the way forward for businesses in various industries as Covid-19 pandemic has sped up the implementation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0).
Since the start of the pandemic last year, she said businesses had to quickly embrace digital economy by adopting new technologies and be more data driven in order to remain sustainable in a highly competitive environment that is now focusing on personalised and targeted service approach.
"I believe that job requirements would see a huge change in terms of the demand that we see right now. There would be a lot of people who would be interested in digital marketing. Certainly, the interest in data science will also grow tremendously," Aireen told The New Straits Times in an exclusive interview last week.
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the current global job market and resulted in high unemployment rate worldwide.
According to Malaysia's Department of Statistics, the number of unemployed individuals in the country as of November 2020 stood at 764,400.
Despite the unemployment rate, the world is seeing an increasing need for new jobs that requires digital skills.
These jobs include artificial intelligence (AI) specialists, data scientists, big data analysts, product UI/UX designers and cyber security specialists, to name a few.
"There will be a lot of jobs as we do more and more machine learning work, more data driven work and more AI projects. There would be many jobs that would need to be redeployed because we probably don't need many people to do a certain job because the machines and algorithm will be doing that.
"We probably need just a handful (of employees) who are able to do more strategic analytical work based on what the machine has recommended," Aireen said.
In order to remain relevant in the future job market, Aireen said it's important for professionals to upskill and reskill themselves especially with digital knowledge.
Last year, airasia Digital under its education arm Redbeat Academy, has received over 1,200 Allstars (AirAsia Group employees) who enrolled to upskill and reskill themselves by taking the digital fundamental course and continued on with their respective tech paths.
The Allstars include pilots, cabin crew and baggage handlers.
"We felt that as a responsible employer, we need to reskill our non-tech Allstars to ensure that they can be part of the digital transformation," Aireen said, adding that after completing the digital fundamental course, the graduates are given a chance to specialise in digital skills of their choice such as coding, cyber security and digital marketing, to name a few.
The idea to upskill and reskill the Allstars came about when airasia Digital was seeking to hire talents to restructure its own tech team. There was difficulty to find the specific talents in the region; hence the company had to widen its search globally.
"It just so happens that a lot of corporates are embracing digital transformation or embracing the IR 4.0 and they are looking for the same talents. It makes it really difficult for us to be able to achieve our ambition in a big way. So we though 'how can we build a sustainable talent pipeline that are not subjected to global shortages?'"
Besides the Allstars, professionals and candidates from corporate and small-medium enterprises, government agencies and universities are also undergoing digital programs that are offered at Redbeat Academy.
The programs, which are introduced in collaboration with Google, include UX design, Google cloud platform, data analyst and data engineering, cyber security as well as short courses.
Redbeat Academy has now opened its doors to the public. Those who are interested to upskill and reskill themselves would first go through a digital fundamental course in order for them to have the basic understanding before pursuing on a specialised course based on their interest.
"I think it's really important to understand what is needed to survive in this world right now especially when everything is digital. Everything is about technology. What is ML? AI? big data? cloud? Not many people understand these concepts, which is why they need to have an understanding of these basic concepts," Aireen said.
She added that the certificates given following the completion of the digital courses are recognised by the industry and can be used to apply for jobs. Should the participant stand out during the course, he or she may be recommended to work within the AirAsia and Google ecosystem or the companies' extensive network of businesses.
"We create people who will have the digital skill sets who are employable and we also teach them to be problem solvers. Essentially, we are helping to build a digital economy in Malaysia and ASEAN," Aireen said.
She added that Redbeat Academy has partnered with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Malaya as well as Asia School of Business, MIT Sloan Management and Imperial College in London.
Redbeat Academy has also signed a partnership with Malaysian Industry-Government Group of High Technology (MIGHT) to reskill a pool of professionals in software engineering and high technology projects.
Due to the current Movement Control Order, all classes are conducted online, although there is a physical classroom located at KL Sentral. Applicants may apply on Redbeat Academy's official website at www.redbeatacademy.com or contact them on their social media accounts.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/business/2021/02/662149/airasia-digital-create-tech-savvy-employable-talent