Malaysia Drops 12 Spots in Global Skill Rankings, Lags Further Behind Singapore, Indonesia & Vietnam

Recently, there have been many international studies regarding Malaysia that left a lot to be desired, including how our country dropped to our lowest ranking in the International Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) World Competitiveness Ranking 2024 and being named 2nd worst nation for work-life balance by global human resources services company Remote.

As if adding salt to the wound, our country also fared poorly in the recently released 2024 Global Skills Report by Coursera, a US-based global massive open online course provider.

The 2024 Global Skills Report

For context, this is the 6th edition of the annual Global Skills Report, which serves as a trusted resource for leaders and institutions worldwide to understand the rapidly transforming skill landscape.

Drawing on data and insights from Coursera’s global learning community, including over 148 million learners and 7,000 institutions, and content from 325 of the world’s leading university and industry players, the 2024 Global Skills Report presents a comprehensive view of skill and credential trends at a country, regional and global level.

In the study’s Global Skill Rankings, which rank global skill proficiency across business, technology, and data science, Malaysia placed 79th out of 109 nations, dropping 12 spots from last year’s edition in which we placed 67th.

Regionally, Malaysia’s skilled workforce lags behind Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam 

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When viewed regionally, Malaysia is deemed to have the 4th most skilled workforce in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore (12th globally), Indonesia (41st globally) and Vietnam (54th globally).

Meanwhile, Cambodia is ranked 5th in Southeast Asia (80th globally), followed by Thailand (81st globally), the Philippines (101st globally) and Myanmar (103rd globally).

For Malaysia, Coursera revealed that we’re placed 77th globally in the Business domain, 79th in Tech and 74th in Data Science. 

Moreover, the top 5 skills in our country are Spreadsheet Software, followed by SQL, FinTech, Supply Chian Systems and Market Research.

There’s also been a whopping 806% year-on-year increase in GenAI enrollments, with the top course being “Introduction to Generative AI”.

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Coursera also noted that our country’s 97% year-over-year increase in Professional Certificate enrollments highlights the country’s drive to boost digital skills.

Furthermore, the launch of the National AI Studies Centre emphasizes tech education to prepare the workforce for AI and ML opportunities.

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So, what do you guys make of Malaysia’s placement in the study? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Also read: Indonesia & Thailand Overtake Malaysia in World Competitiveness Ranking for 1st Time as We Drop to 34th