Top 5 job movements in Malaysia this year that reeled our readers in

Digital transformation and automation will be two main focus areas for Malaysian companies in 2022. To help them achieve these, individuals with digital and eCommerce skillsets will continue to be sought after, especially on the sales and marketing front. According to Robert Walters Malaysia's Salary Survey,  technology-driven roles, namely AI, eCommerce, and digital marketing are expected to be on an upward trend in the new year. Meanwhile, marketers in the B2B and B2C field can also expect a 10% to 20% salary increment in the new year.

Employees are also on the hunt for individuals with experience in ESG and sustainability practices as a result of the increasing importance of ESG. According to Robert Walters, the reopening of the economy in Malaysia has led to a strong rebound in hiring activity in the country across all sectors. This is echoed by job seekers as well, seeing as 45% of respondents are already looking for a new opportunity in the sectors.

This year has definitely witnessed some industry movements that caught our readers' attention. As we gear up to usher in the new year, here's a look at the top five moves in Malaysia that reeled in our readers.

1. Karen Chan 

Karen Chan, CEO of AirAsia.com, stepped down from her position in May. She joined AirAsia in 2019 as a group chief commercial officer during which she was responsible for driving profitability and growth across markets it operates in, said her LinkedIn. Before joining AirAsia, Chan was SVP of digital, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa at Clarks for close to two years. Prior to that, she led regional digital marketing efforts for Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza and Coca-Cola. 

During that same year, AirAsia redesigned its mobile app to include features such as new booking flow and interactive search map; flight chat rooms; exclusive content and deals; and seamless access to boarding pass via the Apple e-wallet. At the start of 2020, Chan was promoted to CEO of AirAsia.com to lead the business transformation of the airline into a travel and lifestyle platform.

2. Angelyn Soh

AirAsia appointed Angelyn Soh as its head of social in April this year. Soh brings more than eight years of experience with her from the agency side and was last with Lion and Lion as head of social, based in Kuala Lumpur. She left her role in January. Before she was in Lion and Lion, she was the business unit director and social media director at Reprise in the Philippines for close to two years. 

With more than nine years of experience under her belt, Soh has worked with a list of clients from various industries including luxury beauty, FMCG, pharmaceuticals and banking from the Philippines, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Her career began in 2021, when she joined Mediabrands in Malaysia, working as a social media specialist for KFC Malaysia. According to her LinkedIn, she later rose up the ranks to senior social media specialist and social manager, architect. In her managerial role, she led a team of six for brand development, crisis management, as well as photoshop and video editing.

3.  Chan May Ling

Chan May Ling replaced Angelina Villanueva in February this year as KFC Malaysia's CMO after Villanueva announced that she will be taking on a regional role at KFC Asia. Chan reports to KFC Malaysia's brand head, Chandrasagran Munusamy, and is responsible for leading the marketing team in continuously driving KFC's brand growth and driving its market leadership. "My vision as KFC Malaysia's CMO is to accelerate digitalisation and make data-driven decisions to drive growth and leadership," said Chan to A+M. 

According to her LinkedIn, she was previously with telco Digi and its largest shareholder Telenor for about 13 years in total. Chan last helmed the role of digital customer experience transformation lead at Digi for eight months. Before that, she was based in Myanmar with Telenor as VP, head of digital services and VP, head of brand strategy and online marketing, said her LinkedIn.  

4. Diana Boo

Diana Boo stepped down from her CMO role at Lazada Malaysia in May, two years after she joined the team from iflix in 2019. She is now with Boost Holdings as executive director of marketing. Boo told A+M back then that having spent two years with Lazada she felt it was time to move on and pursue another job.

While her time in Lazada might not have been long, Boo added that eCommerce has offered her a new perspective. In fact, a month after she joined, Lazada unveiled its new brand identity in June 2019. According to her, one of her memorable moments was overseeing the new brand launch. Other memorable campaigns also included its 11.11 campaign in 2019 and its seller conference, WeCommerce, in 2019 which Boo said was "one of [Lazada's] most successful seller conference. 

5. Varian Ignatius

Former head of communications for the transformation office at PETRONAS Digital, Varian Ignatius joined Bank Negara Malaysia as deputy director, strategic communications in September this year. In his role, Ignatius is responsible for overseeing media relations and internal communications. He also reports to Shasha Kartini Ridzam, director of strategic communications.

Ignatius first joined PETRONAS Digital, formerly known as PETRONAS ICT  in 2018 to lead internal communications and stakeholder engagement. He also led a team of writers to support PETRONAS's digital transformation efforts. He then took on the role of head of communications, transformation office for PETRONAS Digital last January. 

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