Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: The National ICT Association of Malaysia (Pikom) has forecast a growth of 14.2% or RM70.9 billion for the information, communications and technology (ICT) industry this year, together with a low double-digit growth figure for 2016.

This is compared with the 12.5% growth seen in 2014, said Pikom chairman Cheah Kok Hoong at the launch of Pikom’s ICT job market outlook report yesterday.

“The 14.2% growth will be driven by three sectors, namely computer services [to grow 27.2%], publishing [30.9%], and programming and broadcasting [21.7%],” said Pikom research head Woon Tai Han.

In terms of absolute numbers, telecommunications made the largest contribution of 61.4% to the overall industry’s growth in 2014. But this sector’s growth is stagnating and its contribution is expected to trend down to 58.4% this year, said Woon.

The ICT sector’s contribution to Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) has doubled from 3.3% to 6.4% over the past 15 years, with the industry having consistently recorded double-digit growth rates since 2009, according to the job market outlook report.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Pikom said the outlook for the ICT industry remains robust despite the general economic slowdown, and that the favourable industry outlook was due to the intensification of digitisation processes as well as consumption, investment and trading of ICT products and services.

Based on trends in the United States, 45% of total new jobs expected to be created within the industry in the next five years will focus on software development and computer programming, it said.

However, challenges facing the industry include a lack of computer science graduates, the perception of low unemployment in the sector, and a mismatch between talents and jobs, it added.

According to Pikom, there is a salary disparity of 6.22 times between senior managers and fresh graduates in 2014 compared with 4.95 times in 2010, an upward trend that is expected to continue this year.

Most employers do not, or are not able to distinguish ICT degrees from distinct disciplines, leading to a higher likelihood of companies employing the wrong graduates for the required ICT role, Pikom said.

Despite a forecast 7.4% growth in the average basic salary of ICT professionals to RM8,278 this year from RM7,706 in 2014, the widening gap between the earnings of senior executives and fresh graduates may discourage new entrants, Woon said.

 “If left unaddressed, the continued mismatch will exacerbate the brain drain, curtail innovation in companies, and further widen the talent gap,” Cheah said, referring to the general movement of talent to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, where salaries are, on average, 1.74 times more than in Malaysia.

 

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 22, 2015.

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