Intel laments shortage of senior talent in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: The shortage of senior talents in the accountancy, management and engineering fields in Malaysia has led to staff pinching among local and international companies and some are forced to scout for talents abroad.

Intel Technology Sdn Bhd human resource director Suresh Chandra sees the inadequate supply of experienced talents as rather challenging because when multinational companies come to set base in the country, this group of senior management becomes the target of talent poaching, making it difficult for the rest of the companies.

"All these happen because there are not enough experienced workers to go around in Malaysia and if it persists and such talents are hard to locate, some multinational companies might choose to relocate to other countries. But this is not the case for Intel (at the moment)," he told Business Times in an interview recently.

Suresh said the situation has forced companies like Intel to look overseas for senior talent, with the help of the government and Talent Corp Malaysia to identify the right people.

"As Intel continues to grow its business in Malaysia and focus on high-technology manufacturing, there is a need to ensure that there is ample talent to support Intel's growth," he said.

Intel is an American multinatio-nal technology corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue.

Suresh said, in general, it is relatively easier to hire people at the undergraduate level. However, employers have to fork out a significant investment to provide basic training to these graduates, such as soft skills and presentation skills at the point of hire.

He said recruiting at the post-graduate level is much harder, especially in specialised fields like PhD in electrical engineering.

"At this point in time, electronic engineers, and increasingly software engineers, especially senior ones with more than 10 years of experience, are top in our list.

"However, the senior or expe-rienced engineers, especially in research and development and design and development are the ones we and the industry as a whole have the most challenge in sourcing," he said.

Suresh said Intel is making a lot of efforts to overcome the situation, including supporting the government's agenda to move Malaysia up the value chain by upgrading its employees' skills to meet industry requirements.

"We also collaborate with universities to equip graduates with industry-relevant skills through curriculum revision, training and research," he added.

Intel will celebrate its 40th anniversary in Malaysia next year, and to date, the company has invested about RM7 billion. It employs about 10,000 people here, of which 95 per cent is locals.