This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on June 26, 2023 - July 2, 2023
MANY would agree that Malaysian talents in the accounting profession are highly sought after around the world. Malaysian talents are often commended for their multilingual capabilities and good work ethic.
These are some of the reasons why Deloitte Malaysia CEO Yee Wing Peng believes that Malaysia can play a significant role in the global arena in terms of professional services.
“We have an established ecosystem in terms of accountancy where we produce a lot of good talents. In the past, we have been exporting some of these [professional] services and I foresee that there will be more opportunities for Malaysia to do so,” Yee says in an interview with The Edge recently at Deloitte Malaysia’s newly launched Southeast Asia Regional Capability Centre (RCC) in Kuala Lumpur.
He adds that besides the world-class talent available in the country, it also makes perfect sense to set up the RCC in Malaysia given how the real estate cost is relatively cheaper than in neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.
Deloitte Malaysia is looking to hire 3,000 people for its RCC over the next three to five years. It currently has 600 on its team.
The RCC provides support services to Deloitte’s regional and global networks under two categories — (i) internal support services in areas such as IT, finance, human resources and marketing, and (ii) external client support services for the delivery of engagements undertaken by the Deloitte regional network in the areas of audit, tax as well as advisory and consultancy.
In other words, the RCC functions as a regional hub where the work, be it for internal or external clients, will be done out of Deloitte Malaysia.
Yee says having a centralised location that provides such services in the region can help bring down the cost of doing business. Besides that, a substantial portion of the work can now be undertaken remotely, thanks to digitalisation.
The timing for Malaysia to be a favoured destination for such professional services is also ripe, he adds, given how the country has benefited from the supply chain realignment due to the US-China trade war and Covid-19 pandemic. The realignment in supply chain has resulted in many multinational corporations (MNCs) diversifying their operations to Malaysia and the region, which in turn is increasing the need for professional services with a global view.
“If we can train our staff to be well versed in the law [and standards] of other countries, then that work [in the region] can be transferred to Malaysia. But of course, there will be strict quality reviews by the professionals in the home country,” says Yee.
With the RCC, Deloitte Malaysia will be able to scale its capacity and deepen its capability in the services it provides, especially in what it calls its emerging capabilities, which includes forensic investigation, supply chain management, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
Yee points out that it is not solely about supporting the Deloitte regional network but also addressing the needs of the local market with the capabilities it has built in the RCC. “It’s not just about exporting the services but also making use of what we build here to provide more sophisticated, high-value and high-quality services to the business community in Malaysia.
“Many MNCs are looking for world-class professional services. In the past, they may have got it from a consultancy firm outside Malaysia. But now, there is the option to come to us. It will also benefit local conglomerates and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) that are en route to becoming bigger and having a global footprint, which are looking to get all these world-class professional services here in Malaysia. That is another benefit we can bring to the ecosystem.”
Notably, one common problem the accounting industry faces is the ability to retain talent. Firms like the Big Four are often seen as a launching pad for career advancement in the corporate sector or even as a pathway to securing jobs overseas.
Yee hopes the RCC will be able to resolve some of the issues by giving staff international exposure from the comfort of their home country.
“If we’re able to create job opportunities for Malaysian talents whereby they do not need to travel thousands of miles to fulfil their career aspirations and still gain international exposure by working with colleagues from other countries, I think we will be able to attract good talents,” he says.
The employment mix Deloitte Malaysia is looking at for its RCC is 15% foreign talent and 85% local talent. Yee says this mix is necessary because the firm is addressing a global market.
“We need a diverse team as well to address a diverse clientele. Second, even if we want to hire 100% local talent, we’re not going to find that, especially those with a higher skill set and experience. We need to bring in some foreign talents that have some of the expertise and experience to work with our local talents to accelerate [the] development in their knowledge,” he adds, noting that this applies particularly to disciplines in the emerging capabilities.
The ultimate goal is for the local talents here to be able to take on a leadership role in the RCC as a result of the international experience and exposure gained from the work that they do.
Yee hopes that with a highly skilled workforce, it will translate into higher-paying jobs for the accounting industry and support Malaysia’s aspirations to be a high-income economy.
“Over time, it will also lift the pay of those serving the local market as we are working on harmonising the compensation [between those serving the local market and those in the RCC] and seek to achieve equitability,” he says.
“We’re hoping that by working together, it will help lift the standard and quality of professional services. And when we are able to offer higher value-added services, compensation will go up accordingly.”
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