Kuala Lumpur, 15 August 2022 – Professionals and jobseekers in Malaysia and across Southeast Asia (SEA) have been adopting new soft skills, as well as other technical and digital skills to future-proof themselves against an uncertain economic backdrop, as this year’s listing of the most popular courses by LinkedIn shows.
Malaysian learners were among the 7.3 million globally who enrolled in the most popular courses on LinkedIn in the past year (1 June 2021 - 30 June 2022) on its educational platform, LinkedIn Learning, which offers over 18,000 expert-led sessions. The number of learners was almost double that of the preceding year, indicating that more around the world are building skills to future-proof their careers. In Southeast Asia, learners spent over 2.6 million hours on LinkedIn Learning in the past year, which is 18.4% higher than the previous year.
With skills increasingly becoming the new currency for the future of work, Malaysian learners have been actively engaging in upskilling and reskilling. Globally, the skills needed in any particular role have been changing quickly over time. As LinkedIn’s 2021 Future of Skills report notes, on average, skills for a particular job have changed by 27% in Malaysia since 2015, with the pace of change accelerated during the pandemic. As the world of work continues to transform, this could potentially change by over 40% (43% to 47%) and there would likely be three new skills in the top skills for a job by 2025.
LinkedIn’s Most Popular Courses list for SEA in the past year (1 July 2021 - 30 June 2022) offers insight into top-of-mind topics for professionals today. The top 10 courses are now free to access until 31 August for LinkedIn members in SEA, including Malaysia:
1. Excel Essential Training (Office 365/Microsoft 365)
2. Speaking Confidently and Effectively
3. Project Management Foundations
4. Communicating with Confidence
5. Strategic Thinking
6. Critical Thinking for Better Judgement and Decision-Making
7. Excel: VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP for Beginners
8. Digital Marketing Foundations
9. Critical Thinking
10. Communication Foundations
Courses imparting “hard” or technical skills include two courses related to Excel, with the most attended course in the region being Excel Essential Training (Office 365/Microsoft 365). Digital Marketing Foundations (#8) was the other most sought-after technical course.
In the top 10 list, seven relate to soft skills: Speaking Confidently and Effectively (#2), Project Management Foundations (#3), Communicating with Confidence (#4), Strategic Thinking (#5), Communication Foundations(#10) as well as two courses in critical thinking.
Local graduates with top soft skills including in communications, critical thinking and problem-solving have been known to be highly sought after by employers across industries in Malaysia. According to LinkedIn’s Future of Talent report, companies in Malaysia prefer candidates with technical (38%) and transferable (28%) skills over experience and education when hiring externally. When hiring internally, companies look for problem solving skills, good communication and strategic thinking. In fact, 2 out of 3 (67%) companies are open to hiring employees from another industry if the skills they possess match the job requirements.
Frank Koo, Head of Talent Solutions, Asia Pacific, LinkedIn, said: “The most popular LinkedIn Learning courses shed light on the priorities of SEA professionals and all who are looking to dip their toes in the job market. There is a growing skills gap in the fast-evolving job market, and as digital transformation accelerates across businesses and industries, individuals and enterprises who build their competencies in soft and hard skills will be the ones who remain most competitive. Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, is moving towards a skills-based economy, along with the rest of the world, and we will see a diverse range of in-demand skills emerge for the future of work.”
To provide career advancement resources and tools to the professional community, LinkedIn is giving free access to its top 10 Most Popular Courses on https://www.linkedin.com/learning until August 31, 2022.
