More than 24,000 graduates voted Microsoft Malaysia from among 700 companies across 26 industries as one of their Top 3 employers

KUALA LUMPUR, 30 November 2020: Microsoft Malaysia was recently voted as one of the top three most attractive employers at the Graduates’ Choice Award 2020/2021 edition. This is in recognition of the company’s excellence in employer branding among public and private universities in the country. Microsoft Malaysia was also recognised as one of the top employers within the Technology category.

Established in 2018, the Graduates’ Choice Award (GCA) is one of Malaysia’s most authoritative graduate employer branding awards. More than 24,000 undergraduates from public and private universities all over Malaysia voted on their most attractive employer brands to work with, from among 700 companies across 26 industries. The award is organised by Talentbank in close partnership with more than 100 private and public universities in the country.

“We are honoured to be voted by graduates once again as their employer of choice. This is a testament to our efforts in engaging and providing opportunities to local graduates on our path towards a more resilient Malaysia, in fulfilling our mission to empower every person and every organisation on this planet to achieve more. Additionally, this award reflects our people’s dedication and passion to making Microsoft not only a great place to work for, but a great place to learn, grow and succeed,” said K Raman, Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia.

Enabling graduates with relevant skills and enabling them to be future-ready

As part of Microsoft’s concerted effort to engage and support every youth and graduate in Malaysia, the company has placed great emphasis on skilling initiatives for young Malaysians. Towards this end, Microsoft Malaysia has been working closely various organisations including Talentbank, Biji-Biji, 42KL and Kelly Services to provide youth with access to skills resources as well as relevant industry-based learning content.

“In every industry across Malaysia, the demand for a skilled workforce equipped for a digital world is increasingly crucial. As such, we need to ensure that every young Malaysia is given the opportunities and access to the tools, platforms and resources they need to succeed in the roles of tomorrow. With greater digital capability and confidence, our youth can better seize the socio-economic opportunities from Malaysia’s digital economic growth and help propel the nation’s digital transformation ambitions,” said Raman.

In 2020, Microsoft launched the Microsoft Global Skilling Initiative to help 25 million people worldwide gain more digital skills. As of October 2020, more than 36,000 learners including Malaysian graduates and young professionals have gained new skills and knowledge from the free learning resources offered by Microsoft, LinkedIn and Github. These free learning courses can be accessed through opportunity.linkedin.com.

Additionally, Microsoft Malaysia has actively partnered with education institutions to integrate industry content, thus enhance graduates’ future-ready skills and employability. For example, Microsoft runs programmes to upskill lecturers and students at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) with AI for Engineering certificates.

Meanwhile, at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Microsoft in partnership with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has launched the Micro-Credential programme, whereby industry-content from Microsoft are integrated into the universities’ modules – thus enabling students to be gain industry certification from Microsoft after each semester.

The company has also collaborated with Taylor’s University as well as INTI Colleges and University to equip future graduates with technical and career skills through the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors programme.

“We will continue to work in collaboration with our stakeholders and partners, to empower people, communities, and organizations in Malaysia. Skilling will continue to be one of the core priorities for us at Microsoft, to drive societal progress and advance the digital capabilities of Malaysians for the future,” said Raman.

Prior to this, Microsoft Malaysia was also awarded the Most Popular Graduate Employer of the Year 2019 Award by GTI Media in 2019, and was ranked among the 10 employers in tech (ICT) category in the Graduates’ Choice Award 2018 edition. For more information, visit Most Attractive Graduate Employers To Work For in 2021.