How AI enhances careers and salaries in APAC
Malaysia and the rest of the Asia Pacific region are looking to capitalise on the current wave of AI-driven workplaces. Many workers today believe growing their tech skills would help them get to a better position in their careers.
Research from Amazon Web Services (AWS) revealed Malaysian workers with AI skills and expertise are more likely to experience an increase in their pay of up to 40%. In particular, those with skills in IT (52%) and research and development (49%) see the biggest bump in their salaries.
This potential for better pay and other positive impacts to careers is driving workers to invest in sharpening their existing AI skills or learning new ones.
Boosting careers through AI skills development
Of the more than 1,600 workers and 500 employers interviewed in the AWS survey, 97% of workers believe their existing AI skills can accelerate their careers by providing them with better job efficiency, job satisfaction and career progression.
Meanwhile, 91% of respondents said they are interested in developing their AI skills further to help boost their careers.
Optimism over the potential benefits of AI on careers is not exclusive to a single generation of workers, with Gen Z workers (92%), Millennials (92%), and Gen X workers (90%) embracing the trend.
Even Baby Boomers (94%), who are typically on the precipice of retirement, have expressed interest in learning AI if they were offered courses.
Improving productivity through AI upskilling
The AWS study also revealed how Malaysian organisations can benefit from developing their workers’ AI skills.
Many believe their companies can achieve a 57% improvement in productivity by incorporating AI tech into their workflow and outcomes (76%), a trend that encourages workers to learn new AI skills (66%) and boosts communication among teams (65%).
Embracing the AI revolution in workplaces
Malaysia is hoping to lead the charge in workplace AI adoption in Asia Pacific: 97% of business leaders expect their organisations to incorporate AI into their processes by 2028.
While employers seem to agree that AI adoption will have a profound impact on their companies, they seem to differ on which department would benefit the most.
- IT department (96%)
- Business operations (95%)
- Research and development (94%)
- Sales and marketing (94%)
- Finance (93%)
- Human resources (89%)
- Legal (88%)
Malaysia business leaders appear to have fallen head-over-heels for generative AI since it allows users to combine different ideas and produce new content such as conversations, stories, images, videos, and music.
Employers (98%) and workers (96%) interviewed in the AWS survey believe more gen AI tools will be deployed in workplaces over the next five years.
As many as 76% of employers expect gen AI to help boost their organisation’s levels of innovation and creativity, 67% said the tech will support learning, and 65% said it will improve outcomes.
Bridging the AI skills gap
With more Malaysian companies putting emphasis on AI adoption, workers have yet to catch up on the demand for AI skills.
As many as 89% of companies are prioritising AI skills during talent recruitment. However, 81% of these organisations have yet to find workers with the right skill set companies need.
There also appears to be a significant gap in AI training awareness as 88% of business leaders admitted they don’t have any experience running an AI-driven training programme for their employees.
Meanwhile, 83% of workers interviewed said they are not yet familiar with career paths where AI skills are used.
To help address these issues, the AWS study recommends governments, private companies, and schools work together to formulate AI training programmes to equip workers with the right skills.
Spreading the benefits of AI workplaces across APAC
Malaysia is not the only country undergoing an AI revolution. Other markets in APAC are also starting to adopt the technology en masse. The AWS study predicts the region will experience significant changes over the next five years.
Here are some of the key highlights from the AWS’s Accelerating AI Skills: Preparing the Asia-Pacific Workforce for Jobs of the Future report:
APAC employers are willing to pay 44% more for IT, 41% more for R&D, 39% for sales & marketing, 39% for business operations, 37% for finance, 33% for legal, and 33% for HR workers if they have the appropriate AI skills for their roles.
APAC employers expect AI to boost productivity by 51% as the technology automates repetitive tasks (64%), improves workflow and outcomes (60%), and improves communication (59%). Meanwhile, workers believe AI can improve productivity by 50%.
As many as 92% of APAC employers believe AI will spread across workplaces in the region by 2028.
Of these, 91% said IT departments will be the ones to benefit the most. Meanwhile, 89% said business operations, 88% said finance, 88% said R&D, 87% said sales & marketing, 82% said legal, and 81% said HR will experience the biggest advantages.
Gen AI will be the most common piece of AI tech to be adopted in APAC workplaces, with 93% of employers and 90% of workers believing this will happen within the next five years.
As many as 79% of APAC business leaders are prioritising AI skills and expertise in recruiting talent. However, 75% of these employers still cannot find the right AI talent that they need.
Meanwhile, 79% of employers do not know how to conduct AI training for their workers.
As many as 71% of APAC workers do not know what AI skills they need to have, while 74% are not familiar with what training programs are available. An additional 74% said they are not sure about the relevant career paths where AI skills would be useful.