According to Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Malaysia's digital job vacancies have almost tripled showing 88 per cent of Malaysians surveyed are ready to learn new skills or completely retrain to remain employable.
Looking at the data, along with its mission to “Advance Malaysia Together”, Google reinforced its commitment to enable an equitable and inclusive digital economy by offering 31,000 scholarships through local partners, comprising education institutions, industry partners and nonprofits.
Google Malaysia's managing director Marc Woo in his address said that the company understands the needs for everyone to work together to realise Malaysia's digital vision and the new programme, Gemilang is one of the many efforts the company has planned to support the country's digital transformation journey.
“To ensure the growth of our digital economy supports as many Malaysians as possible, we are committed to supporting a more equitable and inclusive digital ecosystem. One that is built for every Malaysian, and this is a vision we cannot realize alone,” he said.
In a report published by the Social and Economic Research Initiative (SERI), it shows that the most in-demand digital skills in the country includes big data analytics, digital marketing, and artificial intelligence. Additionally, a report by AlphaBeta found that if leveraged fully, digital technologies could create up to US$257.2 billion worth of economic value annually in Malaysia by 2030.
Chiming on the statistics, Google created the initiative – to provide equal skilling opportunities to Malaysians regardless of background to learn new skills relevant to current market needs.
“We at Google Malaysia, together with our partners, want to provide digital skilling opportunities to all Malaysians from all backgrounds. It gives me great honor to launch our new training programmer, Gemilang. Through Gemilang, even more Malaysians will be able to access training opportunities, learn new skills, find jobs and build their careers in the digital economy as it continues to grow,” said Woo adding that the courses are available on online learning platform Coursera.
Google forms employer consortium to connect graduates from Gemilang with employers who recognize the qualifications and digital skills.
The Google Career Certificates are self-paced online training programmes that enable learners with no prior experience or formal education on specific tech skills to unlock new job opportunities. There are six certificates offered under the programme currently and they are data analytics, IT support, IT automation, project management, UX Design, and digital marketing and e-commerce.
“These certificates are designed by Google's in-house experts to equip learners with fundamental skills through hands-on learning online, allowing participants to progress at their own pace while still working or studying not necessarily in these (related) sectors,” added Woo.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed also attended the launching event, which was held at Google's office here.
Google Malaysia’s managing director Marc Woo.
To provide the opportunity for even more Malaysians to benefit from Google Career Certificates, Google will offer scholarships for 31,000 learners to earn a certificate at no cost. Google will partner with education institutions including Mereka Academy, industry partners including Celcom Axiata Berhad (Celcom) and Trainocate and nonprofits including Girls in Tech, Malaysian Digital Association, Women in Tech and Yayasan Tunku Abdul Rahman to distribute the scholarships.
Woo also shared with the attendees during his speech that Google Cloud, the cloud services arm of the company is partnering with local university Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) to offer the Google Cloud training curriculum to be included in their courses in order to equip undergraduates with technical proficiency in cloud computing and prepare them for careers in data analytics, machine learning, application development, and more.
The company also formed what is known as an employer consortium—to connect graduates from the Gemilang with employers who recognize the qualifications and digital skills under the initiative. In addition to Google, the consortium includes Rev Media Group, Amanz, Carsome, Fave Asia, IPG Mediabrands, Jirnexu, Maybank, McDonald's Malaysia, Omnicom Media Group (OMG), Petronas, The Star Media Group, The Lorry, Storehub, Astro Awani.
“We are delighted to be part of this great initiative as Rev Media Group has always been supporting initiatives that contribute towards national development and the digital transformation of Malaysia,” shared Rev Media Group chief executive officer Samuel Wee.
