The salary was once seen as the main motivator for keeping employees happy in the workplace — the higher the salary, the happier the workforce. However, this theory does not seem to hold water anymore.

A higher salary does not mean a happier workforce

In 2022, the number of graduates in Malaysia rose 5.1% to 5.92 million, while the graduate’s unemployment rate declined 3.7%, according to data released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia in its Graduate Statistics 2022 report.

Rise in number of graduates, drop in number of those unemployed

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) has been steadily progressing over the years but recent advancements, particularly in generative AI, along with the increased accessibility of these tools, have brought heightened attention to the transformative changes and unprecedented possibilities.

Developing robust AI strategies

Malaysia is No 42 in the best-performing upper-middle-income group as a talent-competitive country, just behind Brunei (No 41) and China (No 40), which are categorised as high-income and upper-middle-income nations respectively, according to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2023 released on Nov 7 by Insead, in collaboration with the Descartes Institute for the Future and the Human Capital Leadership Institute.

Malaysia is No 42 in Global Talent Competitiveness Index

The Southeast Asian region reached a critical milestone of US$100 billion (RM471.4 billion) in revenue across all digital economy sectors in 2023, up from around US$12 billion in 2016.

Spotlight on top online spenders powering Southeast Asia’s digital economy

Climate finance — financing for projects aimed at meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement — by multilateral development banks (MDBs) reached a new record high in 2022, according to the 2022 Joint Report on MDB’s Climate Finance.