KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — Upskilling and reskilling are elements that should be focussed on in bracing for the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly for those who have lost their jobs.
Asnawi Yusof from LS Training Solutions said the pandemic not only impacted public health but also changed the landscape of the job market where job seekers needed to adapt to the new way of working.
“Today the employment sector has shifted from manual to digital so it is important to brand ourselves to increase marketability. Job opportunities come with upskilling where you add new skills and reskilling that is learning new skills,” he said, adding that it was in line with the recently launched government’s initiative called MyDIGITAL that seeks to provide employment opportunities in the digital economy sector.
He said this during a webinar session titled “Marketability in the New Norm” in conjunction with the National PenjanaKerjaya Carnival 2021 organised by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) under the Human Resources Ministry here yesterday.
According to Asnawi, LinkedIn Learning lists 10 hard skills that can be mastered to increase job seekers’ marketability including in blockchain, cloud computing, video publishing as well as artificial intelligence technology.
Meanwhile, expert psychiatrist attached with the Health Ministry (MOH) Dr Siti Hazrah Selamat Din said the Covid-19 pandemic also brought psychosocial or mental health effect on the people particularly those who have lost their jobs.
“It is estimated that about 90 per cent of people with mental health problems do not get proper treatment even before the pandemic, so when the pandemic hit the country, it exacerbated the problem,” she said.
She said MOH had introduced rehabilitation programmes that provide training and job support to the mentally ill to allow them to return to work while offering clinical treatment.
Meanwhile, Socso has hosted a total of 132 career webinars from January 1 last year, of which 28 were held this year.
Among the topics covered in the webinar sessions were tips to secure a job in the new norms, exposure to specific skills to meet the needs of employers, exposure to actual interview sessions through interview simulations and sharing from industry players.
The career fair is held virtually starting yesterday until February 26 and registration can be done at https://careerfair.perkeso.gov.my.
Job seekers are also encouraged to register via the national employment services portal, MYFutureJobs for information on current job vacancies as well as job matches from time to time.
— Bernama
