Write an article about How one can make good in bad times .Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6), Retain any existing tags from Acquiring new skills is especially essential if one seeks to join an industry that is increasingly taken over by AI.
PETALING JAYA: From multinationals with businesses spanning the globe to small mom-and-pop establishments that only serve the local community, enterprises are continuously changing to adapt to new economic conditions.
In many cases, such change invariably results in these companies optimising their workforce, requiring many employees to seek their fortunes elsewhere.
For instance, Google’s parent company Alphabet has reduced its workforce by 12,000 jobs since 2023 while Apple cut about 100 jobs from its online services group last year.
But retrenchment is not necessarily the end of the world. For instance, former human resource manager Chris Chan and ex-telco specialist Azhari Ishak, 42, have shown that such life events could open the door to bigger things or better opportunities.
Chris Chan.
Chan was serving as global organisation development head for a multinational when she was made redundant in 2016. She went on to become HR business partner in a new organisation and given that her skills set was still relevant to her new role, the transition was easy.
In her earlier role, she focused on organisational performance and culture which involved, among others, HR strategy, transformation, and change management. On the other hand, her new role sees her focusing on frontline support such as recruitment and managing employee performance.
Azhari decided to move on from telecommunications, where he focused on dealing with vendors, retailers and agencies, to oil and gas (O&G) where he now serves as marketing manager. “I was attracted by the (O&G) company’s ability to turn something so dry into something so exciting, something with a ‘personality’,” he told FMT.
Like Chan and Azhari, former corporate man Hanson Lau has also successfully made the change.
The blow and uncertainty
A Usha Devi, a 30-year veteran in human resource management pointed out, retrenchment is difficult to accept.
A Usha Devi.
“This is especially so for people who are already in a senior position in the company they work for,” she told FMT.
“Retrenchment also means loss of title and authority or status and that can be hard to accept. It takes time to let go of that association,” she added.
More often than not, she said, people in senior positions already have a team supporting them. “Getting retrenched means that they have to start doing things on their own (all over) again.”
For Azhari, it was a bolt out of the blue. “I was shocked. That was the first time I was getting retrenched,” he said.
“Luckily, I was still not married, but I had to care for my mother.
Between my sister and I, we share the household expenses and the cost of our mother’s care,” he said.
Fortunately for him, Azhari received a “fairly good” severance package, which saw him through several months of unemployment.
Making the change
When he was retrenched, Azhari withdrew and dived into research and reading.
“I was reading a lot about marketing, branding, trends, and AI. My objective was to get new insights into how other companies operated, and what skill sets they needed,” he said.
That prompted him to take a six-month contract as an account director with an advertising agency.
Azhari Ishak.
Apart from that, he also readied himself to present a good image on the chance that he was called for a job interview.
“I devised plans that could contribute to the company’s bottom line. You need to invest in that. You must be agile. You must become the person that the prospective employer wants you to be,” he said.
Azhari also learned to project the right image — from “fun and bubbly” to “strict and professional” — depending on what business each company is in.
Lau, on the other hand, took the leap from corporate man to business leader.
“In 2018, I was on the retrenchment list of a multinational engineering firm,” he told FMT. The company had then lost the contract for a big government project.
“It was a rude awakening,” he recalled.
Hanson Lau.
Lau found himself at the crossroads — return to the corporate world or “step out and build something that helps companies grow while helping people grow with it”.
He chose the more difficult path and set up his own consultancy. Lau said the early days were “rough”. He was down from a five-figure salary to a few hundred ringgit a month. Just to make that money, he had to learn how to sell, close deals, serve his clients, and collect payments at the same time.
“(Worse than that), I was ignored and sometimes even bullied because I was small,” he said.
Driven by a purpose to build a world where companies grow with their people and not at the cost of them (the same philosophy he sells to his clients) Lau has successfully made the transition to entrepreneur.
How to help yourself
Possessing the relevant skills set for a new job is a big advantage when one is on the hunt for a new job, but Azhari and Lau have shown that hard work, persistence, and a willingness to accept change can go a long way to helping one get back on his feet.
Apart from that, there are many platforms where one can prepare job seekers for not just the challenge of convincing prospective employers to give them a chance but also to acquire the right skills sets for the job.
Usha Devi’s advice is to reach out to industry experts and HR managers on various platforms such as LinkedIn to get their views and guidance on what types of new skills they need for a specific role.
“Be targeted and strategic in the courses and skills needed. Focus on the types of skills that you need rather than what interests you, if employment is your priority,” she added.
Chan also advocates reskilling or upskilling. Acquiring new skills is especially essential if one seeks to join an industry that is increasingly taken over by AI.
“Take the opportunity to pivot to something new, such as digital or, for seniors with vast experience, try coaching (the next set of leaders),” she said.
As Usha Devi pointed out, being open and having a growth mindset takes one a long way. “Take each new experience as a learning process,” she added.
and integrate them seamlessly into the new content without adding new tags. Include conclusion section and FAQs section at the end. do not include the title. it must return only article i dont want any extra information or introductory text with article e.g: ” Here is rewritten article:” or “Here is the rewritten content:”