UPSKILLING AND RESKILLING REQUIREMENT IN LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN INDUSTRY FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Background: For years, the logistics and supply chain industries have been optimized to reduce cost, minimize the carried inventories and increase the efficiency of assets utilization. Besides that, the impact of industrial revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) has queried for more new skills for a more demanding job scope. In particular, many traditional operation methods have been gradually replaced by automation-based operation. Hence the requirement for upskilling and reskilling became appealing. The present paper discusses the role of upskilling and reskilling during IR 4.0, a method to implement upskilling and reskilling training, the role of the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), as well as the challenges faced during the implementation of reskilling and upskilling in the logistics industries.

Methods: Inductive reasoning is employed in the paper, which is backed up by a study of related scholarly journal papers to uncover the Malaysian upskilling and reskilling requirement in the logistics industry during IR 4.0from both intrinsic and extrinsic lenses.

Results: The paper claims that changing the workplace and workforce, increase employees competitiveness and cost-effectiveness in long term is the main importance of upskilling and reskilling. Nevertheless, firms cannot disregard the needs for technical and human skills as well as the HRDF initiatives. These include the creation of a digital culture with the right training and development to uphold the local experts.

Conclusions: Despite the paper's qualitative approach, the findings will provide a clearer understanding of the upskilling and reskilling requirements for IR 4.0, as well as a foundation for future study. This paper proposes an alternative strategy to diversify the economy and enter IR 4.0 for a developing country that is dependent on a non-renewable source.