Top 5 Most Popular Job Industries in 2022

The Malaysian Bureau of Statistics has predicted the job sector in 2022 for Malaysia precisely. Being aware of these statistics can be helpful to an individual when thinking about their future employment prospects. In addition, these industries are expected to grow much faster than other areas, which will allow individuals who want rapid growth an opportunity to achieve that growth through one or more of these industries. These five sectors represent almost 30% of the entire workforce within the Malaysian economy. Each industry listed here is individually discussed below with reasons why they are popular and possible opportunities for qualified applicants moving forward into 2022 and beyond.

1. Healthcare

With approximately 1 million people currently employed in the healthcare industry, this is expected to grow by 75% by 2022. And it means that an additional 0.5 million people will use it in the healthcare industry within the next five years. These job opportunities exist as a direct result of the current and ongoing ageing trend where the number of elderly increases per capita compared to other age groups. The median age in Malaysia has been steadily growing for several decades now, with approximately 10,000 Malaysia reaching retirement age annually (AARP). In addition, a recent survey was conducted on individuals aged 18 to 64 asking them what they think about medical care professionals. It concluded that 82% said their top priority when visiting a medical professional was or not their doctor had taken time to listen to them (AARP). While there are several job opportunities within the healthcare industry, two major categories provide the most consistent growth throughout the next few years.

The first category is nursing. There has been a growing demand for qualified nurses over the past five years, mainly due to nurses not keeping up with the increasing patient load. In addition, a second survey was conducted of 1,000 individuals asking what they felt about the quality of care received from their current primary care physician; it concluded that 71% were either somewhat or entirely dissatisfied with this treatment (AARP). Because of these factors, the number of employed registered nurses will increase by 26% in 2022, according to estimates made by The Malaysian Bureau of Statistics. And it would give approximately 75000 nurses employed within the next five years, which is likely less than half of the people expected to need nursing care by 2020.

The second major category of growth within this industry is home healthcare services. The number of elderly has been steadily increasing for decades now. It is estimated by 2022, Malaysia will have 2297560 citizens over the age of 65; this equates to more than 7.1% of the entire population at that time. As these individuals reach retirement age, they will continue to live longer lives, although with increasing chronic conditions like arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, or various forms of cardiovascular disease. They may also require long-term care as a result of these conditions. And experts estimated that between 2012 and 2022, the number of employed home health aides would jump from approximately 73800 to about 50,000 (AARP).

In addition to nursing and home healthcare services, there are several other growth industries within the healthcare sector with opportunities for those qualified. These include medical assistants, lab technicians, radiologists, pharmacists, etc.

2. Information Technology – Computer & Management Consulting

More than 1.14 million individuals were employed in this industry within Malaysia a few years ago. According to The Malaysian Bureau of Statistics estimates, this number is expected to grow by 30% over the next five years. These job opportunities would result in additional 90,000individuals being employed within this industry by 2022. A large part of the growth is a direct result of computerization and cloud computing, where more data can be stored online and accessed from any location (TY3N). In addition, many computers are also becoming mobile devices, allowing for even easier access to information anywhere at any time. These advancements are making jobs such as software developers easier who write programs specifically for these mobile devices expected to grow even faster within the next few years.

In addition to individual computer programmers, approximately 2 million individuals are employed in support positions related to software development, such as marketing managers or human resource directors that provide services for these companies (TY3N).

3. Transportation – Driving & Logistics

Over 1.7 million people are employed as long-haul truck drivers, taxi cab drivers, bus drivers, etc. According to The Bureau of Statistics estimates, a few years ago, this number was expected to grow over the next five years. This growth is attributed primarily to individuals retiring from these jobs and the increased demand for goods requiring additional transportation services (TY3N). In addition to those who drive for their income, several logistics firms employees thousands of workers within this industry. These include Air cargo agents or local freight forwarders (Bureau Statistics).

The overall job growth numbers for these various industries are expected to be higher than the national average for other industries because of the ageing population, which has resulted in a greater need for healthcare services.

The competitive landscape is changing rapidly, with automation cutting into the workforce in many industries. To stay relevant, enterprises need to adapt and focus on offering better opportunities to attract employees while retaining talent by keeping them engaged.

4. Power Automation

This industry has been growing because of the increasing demand for green energy. Solar power, wind power, electric vehicles are among some of the revenue streams anticipated to grow massively over the next few years. ANd it will lead to increased employment in sales & marketing, installation & maintenance, etc., attracting highly skilled workers to these fields. The job growth rate has been estimated at 14% between 2016-2022, and thus this will be one of the most popular job industries in 2022.

Industrialization has led to increased efficiency and cut into the human workforce leading to a projected job growth rate of 15% between 2016-2022; as companies strive to automate more processes, they lookout for people who have skills related to computer programming. Therefore, if you are looking at landing a job in this field, it's crucial to take courses that help build these technical skills. Some good platforms include Udemy and Edx, among others.

5. Entertainment industry

The Entertainment industry has been one of the biggest industries in the world for a while now. As technology evolves, newer ways to enjoy movies have been introduced, including online viewing and virtual reality movies. The demand for content writers is rising as more content is generated, and experts expect this figure to increase by 10%. Entertainment writing is a gratifying career; imagine being paid to watch movies! You can get creative with your part-time jobs, too, start volunteering at a local movie theatre or become a film critic, so you get early insider access to watch films before they are released.