Where are the IT jobs?

As far back as early 2007, the Association of the Computer and the Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (PIKOM) had highlighted the dearth of networking specialists among its IT professionals. The article reports that Malaysia was short of 4,200 networking specialists.

According to a PIKOM study, the local ICT workforce of 365,000 in 2005 is expected to balloon to 497,000 in 2010, with jobs from the software and services-related sectors contributing to the increase by as much as 50%. The shared services outsourcing (SSO) segment is viewed as a major driver of growth. To fully appreciate the growth trend in numbers, the SSO industry's current worth of US$300mil is primed to be a heady US$2bil come 2012, generating 300,000 high-value jobs. Furthermore, A. T. Kearney Inc's 2007 Global Service Location Index places Malaysia as the third most ideal outsourcing destination, after the predictable India and China. This recognition bodes well to boost the ICT sector, translating into more jobs.

In fact, the demand for ICT graduates has increased. The question remains then: is it not so much that there are not enough ICT jobs to go around, but that the graduates are not up to meet the demands of the industry?

In 2006, IT graduates made up 19.5% of unemployed graduates in Malaysia. The Human Resources Ministry, in its bid to make these graduates more marketable, offered retraining and professional certification schemes. Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE), Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and Linux System Administrator (LSA) were among the courses provided under these schemes. The success rate of 70-74% attests to the necessity of having skilled workers. An IT graduate should aspire to be a model skilled knowledge worker.

Identifying knowledge gaps

Ask yourself some simple questions to identify areas of improvement:

• What is the job I am looking for?
• What skills or knowledge are necessary for this position?
• Are my current skills and knowledge sufficient for this position?
• Do I need to refresh my skills and knowledge?
• Do I need to learn new skills and knowledge?
• How do I obtain that extra training?

Getting it right from the start

The Malaysian ICT path has been, at best, riddled with potholes. After the setting up of the National Information Technology Council (NITC) in 1994 and the launch of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in 1996, misfortune struck in the form of the economic recession in 1998. ICT courses were at the height of popularity then. Even with the economy back on track, the Ministry of Higher Education noted a decline of ICT intake and interest since 2005. One of the main issues highlighted was the industry-university mismatch. IT graduates produced by the universities did not meet the needs of the industry.

Moving forward, the Ministry proposed that local ICT courses offered would be streamlined into 3 main programmes; Bachelor of Computer Science, Bachelor of Information Technology and Bachelor of Software Engineering. The courses would place emphasis on strong fundamentals in mathematics and programming. The courses would also incorporate soft-skill and entrepreneurship training to produce more street-savvy graduates as opposed to book-savvy ones.

A regular review of the curricula is expected, looking into the areas of specialisation: software engineering/testing, software design and modeling, computer and information systems, artificial intelligence, multimedia/animation and healthcare and biotechnology - all of which are subject to external review as well.

The universities should welcome input from the industry, with the establishment of university-industry forums, half-year industrial training and joint research collaboration, among other initiatives.

By developing a dynamic and practical learning programme, the major problem of university-industry mismatch should be overcome.

Employers-to-be

Malaysia has more than 2,000 MSC-status companies in the fields of software development, creative multimedia, support services, hardware design and others. The revenue of these companies totaled RM14bil in 2007, with exports a healthy RM3.2bil. In addition, they created 62,306 high-value jobs.

Les' Copaque Production Sdn Bhd is the company behind the soon-to-come three-dimensional (3-D) animated feature Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula. An interesting production company with a staff of 40, Les' Copaque is definitely on the right track in leading computer animation in the country.

Another example is Pulse Group, a research process outsourcing (RPO) company that conducts industry market research. Scicom (MSC) Berhad, on the other hand, is a global offshore customer contact management services provider within the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

Based on the handful of companies mentioned above, an IT graduate could easily find a job as a programmer, multimedia application developer, or web portal and application developer. You are also qualified to play the role of systems, database and network administrators; these positions being ubiquitous in any respectably-sized company utilising computer systems. In other words, fret not, for the world is your oyster.

Show me the money!

After all is said and done, the bottom line is what matters. According to a leading online job recruitment agency, IT executives at entry level can earn a salary from RM1,300 - RM2,000 per month. Some may balk at being at the lower end of the salary scale. However, as with all other things, good things will come in time. If you can show your worth, this industry is willing to fork out top dollar for your skills.

According to a recent newspaper article, there seems to be an increase in demand for employees with software development skills such as .NET, Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE), Visual Basic and PHP Hypertext Preprocessor; database skills such as Microsoft SQL and Oracle; and applications such as SAP and Oracle, as well as networking, system administration and project management.

Skilled candidates are handsomely salaried, with Java and J2EE developers earning US$2,500-6,000 per month while SAP developers are looking at US$3,000-8,000 per month. Support or services analysts and engineers can earn between US$1,800-4,500 per month. Web developers should see a salary range of US$1,800-6,000 per month.

If you are keen to rise up the ranks of the company, you are looking at a princely salary of RM6,000-15,000 per month for a senior manager's position. The moolah comes with a caveat, of course: you have to deserve it.

Other initiatives

In addition to the readily available job vacancies in the ICT industry, there are also various other initiatives that seek to help unemployed graduates find a firmer footing in the working world.

K-Workers Development Initiatives (KDI) intends to assist cost-conscious MSC-status companies with relatively affordable fresh graduates. Under the Graduate Trainee Programme (GTP), the company only needs to reimburse the trainees a sum of RM500 per month for up to 6 months. In return for this lowering of costs, the company is required to provide an in-house training programme for fresh graduates, thus better preparing these young first-timers.

Portal developer SKALI has a brainwave that taps into the ready market of unemployed ICT graduates. After winning a project to maintain and upgrade all the State and Federal Governments' hundreds of websites, SKALI decided to rope in the unemployed ICT graduates in a win-win situation. These graduates will help to maintain the websites for SKALI, while at the same time gaining invaluable on-the-job training.

The Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) has teamed up with Scope International Malaysia, a UK Standard Chartered Bank's shared services subsidiary to assist fresh graduates to better meet the needs of the industry. The MSC Malaysia Undergraduate Apprenticeship and Development (UGRAD)-Scope International Programme, in essence, offers practical training in the ICT and banking industries, two of the most popular industries in the Malaysian job market.

These initiatives, by both government and private sectors, indicate the desire by all parties concerned to ensure that Malaysian IT graduates are not in any way left behind.

The IT industry: looking ahead

The recent 2008 budget illustrates the Malaysian government's focus on developing the ICT industry further, the most telling of all being the ambitious 50% broadband penetration by 2010. The huge urban-rural gap presents an interesting scenario, as it presents both a challenge and a vast untapped opportunity.

Malaysia intends to be a net ICT products exporter by 2020, with MDec encouraging Malaysian companies to be more innovative. 44% of Malaysians had access to the Internet in 2007, with personal computer (PC) penetration of more than 20%. Telekom Malaysia's Streamyx broadband service recently welcomed its one millionth subscriber. Hardware and software revenue in 2008 is expected to show a steady increase over last year's. By all accounts, Malaysia seems to be making big strides in the right direction.

With a strong socio-political will, Malaysia looks set to be an expanding market for ICT. Technology is developing at breakneck speed, and our country does not want to be the last to cross the finishing line.

Hence, be assured that if you work hard enough to keep abreast of the ever-changing ICT landscape locally and globally, there will be plenty of work for you to do. And this country will thank you for it.

© GTI Specialist Publishers. Reproduced with permission.