KUALA
LUMPUR: Finding a job is often harder than expected for graduates hoping to
enter Malaysia's Islamic banking industry, the world's second-largest with
US$124 billion in assets - employers are proving choosy about qualifications.
Thousands
of students, a large number of them Muslims from across the globe, have flocked
to the many Islamic finance courses offered in Malaysia,
seeing them as springboards to a career.
Malaysia has
an estimated 50 course providers and 18 universities which offer Islamic finance degrees, and it boasts the largest
academic output globally. The country has published 169 research papers
on Islamic finance in the last three years, according to
data from Thomson Reuters.
But
while the Malaysian Islamic banking industry's output in monetary terms is
growing about 20 percent annually, employment in it is expanding at less than
half that rate - even though an additional 22,400 jobs are needed to support
the growth, according to a blueprint for the financial sector prepared by the
central bank.
Malaysia is
experiencing a problem faced by Islamic finance sectors
around the world: training and qualifications often do not provide the levels
of specialism and sophistication that employers need.
The
problem is limiting growth of the industry and, some say, stifling innovation
that is necessary to bring Islamic finance fully
into line with religious principles, and prevent its products from merely being
pale reflections of conventional financial instruments.
"A
common misunderstanding of these young graduates is that they believe there is
such a thing as a generic job in Islamic finance. In
reality, the industry is looking to employ specialists," said Raymond
Madden, chief executive of the Asian Institute of Finance
(AIF), set up by Malaysia's central bank to develop human
capital for the region's financial industry.
This
means graduates are often inadequately equipped, and few in the industry are
actively trying to solve the problem, he said.
"It's
a major issue - nobody wants to take ownership of training graduates in areas
that are most needed by the industry," added Sofiza Azmi, AIF's head
of strategy and development.
The Islamic finance sector's need for specific skills in
risk management as well as internal audit and governance, plus a basic
grounding in sharia law, is not being communicated, she said.
"Moving
forward you need to understand where the banks are going, how they are going to
expand, what their plans are. Then you can map out their talent needs."
YOUNG
One
reason for the skills mismatch in Islamic finance is
the youth of the industry; it was born in its modern form in the 1970s, and in
many countries has only become a mainstream industry in the past decade.
The
industry has moved into relatively complex areas, such as Islamic money market
instruments and hybrid Islamic bonds with equity-liked characteristics, only in
the last few years.
The
fragmentation of Islamic financial regulation, with sharia boards and national
regulators in various countries taking different approaches to some core
products and concepts, may also be an obstacle to effective training.
Employers
could provide some of that specialised training, but banks
in Malaysia have so far been reluctant to do so because of the time
and cost involved. Instead they tend to poach skilled staff from rivals, a
quicker and cheaper alternative.
"The
banks will have to step up. If they need people specialising in areas, they
will have to train internally," Azmi added.
Universities
also need to revamp their curricula to suit industry needs, but it inevitably
takes a long time to evaluate and implement changes, she said.
Malaysian
authorities have responded by trying to intervene directly in the job market;
the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF)
was set up by Malaysia's central bank in 2009 to help with training.
But Syed Othman Alhabshi, INCEIF's chief academic officer, said
the centre's signature Chartered Islamic Finance Professional
qualification, a one-year postgraduate programme, had only attracted a handful
of industry executives to its staff.
Only
five of the centre's full-time lecturers boast actual exposure to the sector
and most have retired from active involvement in the corporate world, he said.
The centre's 12-member professional development panel, which meets quarterly,
has only two Islamic bank heads, from Bank Islam and OCBC Al-Amin.
About
60 percent of INCEIF's graduates find employment within six months, according
to an internal survey, the centre said, declining to provide further details of
the survey.
While
the centre's programmes have evolved over time, its graduates are not designed
to be specialists, so the task of further training falls on banks, said Syed.
"Our
first job is to train them. If they can get a job here, its fine. But if not,
we can't do much. It's up to the employer whether they want to take the extra
mile."
Syed
added that job opportunities for Islamic finance graduates
were limited partly because companies such as Maybank Islamic,
the largest Islamic bank in Asia, did not need large workforces as they
could leverage staff from their parent firms - in Maybank's
case, Malayan Banking.
AIF
hopes a new advisory panel comprising representatives from across the industry
can close the gap.
A
new Financial Services Talent Council, being planned by the central bank,
is to include individuals from the education ministry, Islamic banks and
universities, in the hope of setting a national agenda for the industry's
talent needs.
"If
you've got this diversity of people to discuss a particular issue, you'll be
able to come up with a better solution," Azmi said.
ACCESS
Many
foreign students expect easy access to Malaysia's job market when they
obtain local Islamic finance qualifications,
but some are turned down because banks face costly, time-consuming visa
requirements to hire foreign students.
So
many students return to their home countries with Malaysian Islamic finance qualifications. This has the benefit
of spreading knowledge globally, but the students can also have difficulty
finding jobs back home.
"At
the beginning they come here thinking there are hundreds of banks and
employees," said Alaeddin, who teaches risk management and sharia auditing
at Universiti Kuala Lumpur.
(The
Star Online / 29 Oct 2013)
KUALA
LUMPUR: Finding a job is often harder than expected for graduates hoping to
enter Malaysia's Islamic banking industry, the world's second-largest with
US$124 billion in assets - employers are proving choosy about qualifications.
Thousands
of students, a large number of them Muslims from across the globe, have flocked
to the many Islamic finance courses offered in Malaysia,
seeing them as springboards to a career.
Malaysia has
an estimated 50 course providers and 18 universities which offer Islamic finance degrees, and it boasts the largest
academic output globally. The country has published 169 research papers
on Islamic finance in the last three years, according to
data from Thomson Reuters.
But
while the Malaysian Islamic banking industry's output in monetary terms is
growing about 20 percent annually, employment in it is expanding at less than
half that rate - even though an additional 22,400 jobs are needed to support
the growth, according to a blueprint for the financial sector prepared by the
central bank.
Malaysia is
experiencing a problem faced by Islamic finance sectors
around the world: training and qualifications often do not provide the levels
of specialism and sophistication that employers need.
The
problem is limiting growth of the industry and, some say, stifling innovation
that is necessary to bring Islamic finance fully
into line with religious principles, and prevent its products from merely being
pale reflections of conventional financial instruments.
"A
common misunderstanding of these young graduates is that they believe there is
such a thing as a generic job in Islamic finance. In
reality, the industry is looking to employ specialists," said Raymond
Madden, chief executive of the Asian Institute of Finance
(AIF), set up by Malaysia's central bank to develop human
capital for the region's financial industry.
This
means graduates are often inadequately equipped, and few in the industry are
actively trying to solve the problem, he said.
"It's
a major issue - nobody wants to take ownership of training graduates in areas
that are most needed by the industry," added Sofiza Azmi, AIF's head
of strategy and development.
The Islamic finance sector's need for specific skills in
risk management as well as internal audit and governance, plus a basic
grounding in sharia law, is not being communicated, she said.
"Moving
forward you need to understand where the banks are going, how they are going to
expand, what their plans are. Then you can map out their talent needs."
YOUNG
One
reason for the skills mismatch in Islamic finance is
the youth of the industry; it was born in its modern form in the 1970s, and in
many countries has only become a mainstream industry in the past decade.
The
industry has moved into relatively complex areas, such as Islamic money market
instruments and hybrid Islamic bonds with equity-liked characteristics, only in
the last few years.
The
fragmentation of Islamic financial regulation, with sharia boards and national
regulators in various countries taking different approaches to some core
products and concepts, may also be an obstacle to effective training.
Employers
could provide some of that specialised training, but banks
in Malaysia have so far been reluctant to do so because of the time
and cost involved. Instead they tend to poach skilled staff from rivals, a
quicker and cheaper alternative.
"The
banks will have to step up. If they need people specialising in areas, they
will have to train internally," Azmi added.
Universities
also need to revamp their curricula to suit industry needs, but it inevitably
takes a long time to evaluate and implement changes, she said.
Malaysian
authorities have responded by trying to intervene directly in the job market;
the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF)
was set up by Malaysia's central bank in 2009 to help with training.
But Syed Othman Alhabshi, INCEIF's chief academic officer, said
the centre's signature Chartered Islamic Finance Professional
qualification, a one-year postgraduate programme, had only attracted a handful
of industry executives to its staff.
Only
five of the centre's full-time lecturers boast actual exposure to the sector
and most have retired from active involvement in the corporate world, he said.
The centre's 12-member professional development panel, which meets quarterly,
has only two Islamic bank heads, from Bank Islam and OCBC Al-Amin.
About
60 percent of INCEIF's graduates find employment within six months, according
to an internal survey, the centre said, declining to provide further details of
the survey.
While
the centre's programmes have evolved over time, its graduates are not designed
to be specialists, so the task of further training falls on banks, said Syed.
"Our
first job is to train them. If they can get a job here, its fine. But if not,
we can't do much. It's up to the employer whether they want to take the extra
mile."
Syed
added that job opportunities for Islamic finance graduates
were limited partly because companies such as Maybank Islamic,
the largest Islamic bank in Asia, did not need large workforces as they
could leverage staff from their parent firms - in Maybank's
case, Malayan Banking.
AIF
hopes a new advisory panel comprising representatives from across the industry
can close the gap.
A
new Financial Services Talent Council, being planned by the central bank,
is to include individuals from the education ministry, Islamic banks and
universities, in the hope of setting a national agenda for the industry's
talent needs.
"If
you've got this diversity of people to discuss a particular issue, you'll be
able to come up with a better solution," Azmi said.
ACCESS
Many
foreign students expect easy access to Malaysia's job market when they
obtain local Islamic finance qualifications,
but some are turned down because banks face costly, time-consuming visa
requirements to hire foreign students.
"They
waste one year here, and many of them are upset with this," said Omar
Alaeddin, an INCEIF graduate and current member of its student representative
council.
So
many students return to their home countries with Malaysian Islamic finance qualifications. This has the benefit
of spreading knowledge globally, but the students can also have difficulty
finding jobs back home.
"At
the beginning they come here thinking there are hundreds of banks and
employees," said Alaeddin, who teaches risk management and sharia auditing
at Universiti Kuala Lumpur.
(The
Star Online / 29 Oct 2013)
---
Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com
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