The Impact of Industrial Revolution 4.0 and the Future of the Workforce: A Study on Malaysian IT Professionals

Abstract

With the advent of Industry 4.0, future workspaces are expected to evolve in tandem with technological advances in industry and education. Industry 4.0 calls for transformation and effective talent development is vital in ensuring national aspirations are achieved while eliminating redundancy and ensuring consistency. As such, this study aims to understand the impact of Industry 4.0 on computer engineering-related workforce and skills development within Multinational Companies (MNCs) to Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. In this study, online questionnaires were distributed to evaluate the current and future hiring trends. The study reveals that most of the employees have positive perceptions about the industrial current practice on Industry 4.0 and identified the prospective demands on the professions that will be affected. Five significant areas of required competencies found in this study are adaptability, soft skills, software engineering, data analytics, and technical skills. The findings provide empirical evidence about current and future employment scenarios in Malaysia concerning the possible impact of Industry 4.0 on the companies and issues involved in managing the transition to Industry 4.0. Besides, the emergent skills required by workforces that are previously unaddressed in the literature were identified. Empirical evidence from the analysis contributes to shaping the educational systems of the future and helps to proactively identify specific skills shortages at an early stage.

Sustainable Industrial Revolution Competency Framework for 5G Technology Applications using TRIZ

“…Consequently, there is a demand for expertise and competency in designing, developing, and operating the 5G technologies in a particular segment of the business value chain. In addition, there is a limited talent pool in 5G technologies that is skilled and experienced enough to support and embrace the high performance of communications and system network applications [7]. Therefore, Malaysia should prepare talent development in 5G technology applications with the specialized skill set and competencies that may accelerate the deployment of 5G system network applications and fulfil the essential objective of the Industry4WRD strategy, vision, and mission.…”

A Literature Review on the Application of Digital Technology in Achieving Green Supply Chain Management

“…[ [82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89] Internet of Things technology is used to track and monitor each step in the production practice. The semi-finished products are automatically identified from one process to the next according to the set procedures [67,84,90].…”

“…In the transportation process, Internet of Things technology could help to make the most accurate planning of the transportation line, carry out real-time positioning in transportation, and update the logistics [86,91]. The Internet of Things, meanwhile, keeps a real-time record of energy consumption during transportation and alerts suppliers when the wrong route is chosen, prompting them to design a new one [81,87,92].…”