AWS: Skilled digital workers contribute US$105b to Malaysia’s annual GDP
22 Feb 2023
Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, today released results of research that show workers in Malaysia who use advanced digital skills – including cloud architecture or software development – contribute an estimated US$105.7 billion (RM469 billion) to Malaysia’s annual gross domestic product (GDP).
This is attributed to the 106% higher salaries that these workers earn compared to those with a similar education who do not use digital skills at work.
The “Asia Pacific Digital Skills Study: The Economic Benefits of a Tech-Savvy Workforce,” commissioned by AWS and conducted by Gallup, examined how building a technology-enabled workforce has significant benefits for workers, organisations, and economies.
A total of 1,405 working adults and 357 employers were surveyed in Malaysia across a variety of public and private sector organisations and industries. The study classifies basic digital skills as the ability to use email, word processors, other office productivity software, and social media. Intermediate digital skills include drag-and-drop website design, troubleshooting applications, and data analysis. Advanced digital skills include cloud architecture or maintenance, software or application development, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning.
The study found that advanced digital workers in Malaysia are benefiting from more than just a boost in their income – 74% of workers who use advanced digital skills express higher job satisfaction, compared to 55% of workers with intermediate skills and 54% of workers with basic digital skills.
Similarly, employers that rely heavily on advanced digitally-skilled workers, digital technology, and cloud technology reap higher business growth and innovation. The study found that 25% of Malaysian organisations that run most of their business on the cloud are more likely to experience a doubling of annual revenue or more, compared to 7% of those that use the cloud for some or none of their business.
Cloud-based organisations are also about 27 percentage points more likely to have introduced a new or improved product within the last two years (91% to 64%).
With many organisations now preparing for the challenges of a digital future, the Gallup study looked at 10 emerging technologies including AI, edge and quantum computing, blockchain, and cryptocurrency. 71% of employers in Malaysia say at least one of these technologies is likely to become a standard part of their future business operations, with 5G ranking the highest at 58%.
“People in Malaysia are increasingly going digital, from the way they work to the way they live. This research shows that digital skills provide immense economic value to Malaysia at the individual, organisational, and macroeconomic levels,” said Gallup principal rconomist, Dr Jonathan Rothwell.
“As more organisations move their IT to the cloud over the next decade and new technologies emerge, digitisation is going to fuel a vast number of new jobs. The opportunity for Malaysia to be competitive in the digital economy depends on having a robust and highly skilled workforce to support current and future innovations,” he added.
“As the Gallup research shows, Malaysia has the opportunity to seize immense economic benefits from building a strong pipeline of cloud talent to support the country’s ongoing digital transformation.
“AWS is working with organisations from Petronas to Unitar International University to Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education to help bridge the digital skills gap. AWS has trained more than 700,000 people with basic, intermediate, and advanced cloud skills across Asean since 2017, and our work doesn’t stop here,” said Emmanuel Pillai, head of training and certification for Asean, AWS.
Source: The Sun Daily
