Malaysia Airlines launches programme to upskill, reskill staff

Its parent Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) said the employees comprised mainly pilot, cabin crew and other front-line community.

“The programme provides opportunities for the employees to be upskilled and reskilled for other job competencies either in specialised competency such as facilities management and audit or general and trainable areas such as sales and IT helpdesk,” MAG said in a statement today.

The programme enables the national carrier's employees to lend their expertise and services to support the long-term business sustainability of the company, and explore new avenues to grow and develop their potential in MAG.

MAG said subject to approval, this group of employees would be temporarily re-assigned to support other departments that required workforce for critical roles or job functions resulting from the constrained workforce due to added deliverables and attrition.

MAG group chief executive officer Captain Izham Ismail said with the pandemic still showing little sign of letting up, forcing some airlines to halt operations and ground almost fleet, it was important for the group to prepare its workforce with new skill sets to become more efficient in their current roles or shift into emerging positions as well as to support the business goals.

“This is the perfect time for the staff to reinvent themselves,” he said.

According to him, this initiative is offered voluntarily and subject to job pre-requisites and selection criteria of the receiving department.

All assignments will be on a full-time basis; however, employees will still be allowed to maintain their job licence validity.

The period of the interim assignment would depend on the company’s business and operational requirements, MAG said.

Employees with the approved application will be equipped with the knowledge and new skill sets through coaching and training to prepare for the new role.

Malaysia Airlines Bhd group chief human capital officer, Datuk Mohd Khalis Abdul Rahim, said the airline was on a journey to transform MAG employees into future workforce adaptable to new challenges and ready in the post-COVID-19 world.

“At MAG, we strongly believe in developing talents and creating a culture of continuous improvement to drive the long-term business sustainability of the group.

“We are embracing the Lean and Agile work culture and digitalisation simultaneously to take full advantage of the opportunities the new norm has to offer. Therefore, improving work qualities and amplifying learning are central to success,” he added.