Youth Survey 2019 — ASEAN Youths and the Future of Work
Each year, the World Economic Forum runs one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys of ASEAN youths in partnership with Sea, the parent company of Garena and Shopee.
Last year’s survey found that young people in our region are highly optimistic about the impact of technology on their job prospects. It also found that entrepreneurial spirit is very strong in this region, with 1 in 4 youths aspiring to work for themselves.
This year’s survey focused on the future of jobs and skills in ASEAN, collecting responses from 56,000 young ASEAN citizens surveyed through our Shopee and Garena platforms.
Please click here for the press release and here for the full report.
We drilled down into three big questions.
- What do youths aspire to be?
- How do they feel about the future of work?
- What are the areas in which they feel prepared or unprepared in?
1. What do youths aspire to be?
ASEAN youths desire to be entrepreneurs
When asked what type of organisation they would like to work for in the future, entrepreneurship was clearly the most popular job choice, with 27% of youths aspiring to work for themselves (see chart below). While not directly comparable, we note that this is also a slight increase from last year’s result of 25%. There is also a strong desire to work for a foreign multinational company. Today, 9% work for a foreign multinational, while in the future 19% would like to work for one.
The flipside is that working for SMEs is viewed less favourably by youths. 18% work for SMEs today, but only 8% want to work for one in the future. Traditional SMEs could therefore face challenges in recruiting and retaining the right talent.
ASEAN youths favour jobs in the tech sector
ASEAN youths also show a strong preference to work for technology companies. Some 7% work in the technology sector today, but 15% want to work in the sector in the future. While this strong desire is commendable, one of the key questions is whether youths have the requisite skills to succeed in the tech industry, as we’ll discuss later.
The more traditional sectors of the economy could find it more difficult to recruit young workers in the future. Both the manufacturing and construction sectors saw decline in share of youths aspiring to work there in the future.
2. How do they feel about the future of work?
The second big theme from our survey is on how youths feel about the future of work.
Strong commitment to lifelong learning and growth mindset
53% of ASEAN youths in our survey believe that they must upgrade their skills constantly, while 9% of youths believe their current skill set is already outdated.
This shows that ASEAN youths are highly aware of technology’s potential impact to the future of jobs, and as such, see strong need to upgrade and invest in their skills to stay relevant. In an era where the pace of change in the job market is accelerating, and the durability of skills are reducing, having this growth mindset and commitment to lifelong learning will be crucial to ASEAN’s future.
Overseas experiences and internships key to acquiring skills for the future
ASEAN youths believe that in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, new modes of learning such as working abroad and internships, will be equally, if not more important than formal education programmes.
For instance, a significant share of youths (46%) aspire to work outside their home country, with more than half of these desiring to work in another ASEAN country. This desire to work overseas is strongest in the Philippines and Thailand.
ASEAN youths also place a high value on internships, with 82% believing that internships are either equally important or more important than training in school.
3. What are the areas they feel prepared or unprepared in?
More proficient in soft skills than hard skills
Our survey finds that ASEAN youths are more confident about their soft skills. They rank themselves highly in skills such as resilience and adaptability, technology use (social media, e-commerce), emotional intelligence, and creativity and innovation.
The skills with the greatest perceived weakness tends to be in hard skills and STEM subjects, such as technology design (eg. software programming), data analytics, and maths and science. Given the strong desire from ASEAN youths to work in tech, the perceived weakness in hard skills may be a barrier to future job aspirations. However, it is important to note that technical skills are not a prerequisite to work in tech sector, with a vast majority of non-technical roles such as marketing and business development also in demand.
Skills for the future
We also found that ASEAN youths place higher importance on soft skills for their future. The 3 skills considered most important are creativity and innovation, language skills, and the ability to use technology (eg. social media and e-commerce). The two least highly valued skills for the future are data analytics and maths and science.
The premium that youths place on language skills could be a reflection of the world and also ASEAN becoming more connected, and the need to be able to work across cultures. This could also fit well with their desire and aspiration to work overseas as a way to acquire new skills.
