KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 30): Companies in Malaysia should not hold back from investing in their employees and improving their skills out of fear they will be poached by competitors, The World Bank said today.

World Bank senior economist Smita Kuriakose said instead of limiting workforce development, companies within a certain sector can get together to provide the training needed by employees to grow the industry as a whole.

"Here, I think firms are not utilising some of the incentives they have here in Malaysia. It's not a lack of incentives. It's [a question of] inertia, and the fact that they feel that they will lose their talents to other companies [after investing in them and nurturing their skills].

"That is a mindset that firms definitely need to change. This is beyond [funding], this is a mindset change that is required," she said during a keynote session at the Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) Corporate Summit 2019 here, today.

There have been growing concerns on Malaysia's readiness for the fourth industrial revolution, which encompasses artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and machine-to-machine communication, according to Kuriakose.

She said among the biggest concerns is the lack of workforce with the necessary skills relevant to the changing industry environment. Such changes need to be addressed by training new workforce and re-skilling existing ones, according to her.

"I think firms need to be a little more giving here. You can't be too short-sighted. There is no shying away from the fact that you cannot increase productivity if you do not invest in skills and talents," she said.