PETALING JAYA: Brickfields Asia College (BAC) has pledged to upskill and retrain over 20,000 workers for free, to prepare Malaysia’s workforce for the digital economy and minimise redundancies.
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BAC managing director Raja Singham told BFM that Covid-19 has accelerated shifts in Malaysia’s work landscape and intensified the need for people to expand their skill sets.
“We’re going to have to prepare to change constantly, you have to build new competencies and new capabilities if you want to stay relevant,” he said.
Through Project DEEP (Digital Enterprise and Employee Programme) and Project Entrepreneur, Raja hopes that people will take advantage of the free platforms to improve their long- and short-term employment prospects, whether they are looking for new jobs or hoping to future-proof themselves.
Each programme will initially retrain 10,000 people but he plans to increase funding if interest is high.
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“We need to build a highly skilled and English-speaking digital workforce for Malaysia, and we need to build better entrepreneurs,” he said.
The projects offer a number of month-long courses which will be taught from 7pm to 9.30pm from Monday to Thursday, with project-based learning focusing on areas including, but not limited to, data analytics, programming, branding and finance.
Raja said it is important to “be a lifelong learner”, as growing and improving one’s skills are integral to career success.
“No company or firm is going to get rid of the staff it needs. The staff who are good will always have a job, and if you’re good and you lose your job, it’s going to be easier to find another one if you have the required skills,” he said. – FMT