Impact of the Global Megatrends, COVID-19, and Digital Economy on Professional Career Management Transformation in Asian Countries

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

English Proofread is recommended for this article.

 

Dear Authors,

The paper presents an in-depth analytical research. However, the following comments would enhance the overall impact of this research.

Abstract: Revise the novelty sentence Line 23 " This paper is novel because it seeks to contribute to the current debate in the literature."

Introduction 

Line 33- Introductory sentence could be revised - such used two times in a very long sentence.

Line 52- provide references whenever making a statement. Same for Line 54. It seems like author opinion rather than literature backed statement.

Figure 1: If possible, maintain the font size as in 4th and 5th stage for stage 1-3.

Line 165-168- are you sure ?

Why literature review is so long? The authors may make it more crisp and provide literary references wherever necessary.

Literature review- Line 293- please maintain consistency with COVID-19 or covid-19.

Apart  from Chinese implications, the authors should provide data or research based comparative positioning of other world countries, at least ASEAN perspectives.

Material and Methods

Provide the study area selection process.  Line 340- if Asian Countries , then why only literary research for China.

Provide the full form of all the abbreviations such as EBSCO, PRISMA, ADB, GDP....

Line 355- How the sample size is derived to be 150?  The breakdown is clear but why 150?

Results and discussions

Figure 3 could be enhanced by formatting the text. It is representing the results, but the text could be brief.

Line 395- "Recognition of the climate crisis is widely spread across society, but the actions are taken slowly." any references or link to studies, report or any data?

Line 435-". In the context of Asian countries, the rise of the digital economy is more prominent in the Southeast Asian region."  The point is Asian include all south, southeast, middle-east, please be specific and in relation to your literature review.

Figure 5 is unclear. If Gig and Sharing have same relation then why two different heading?

Line 810- "The need for professions that require simple work is declining." how does the author ensure that this is the case?

Rest seems in line.

Good Luck!!

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper investigates affection that global megatrends, digitalizing economy, and continuing COVID-19 pandemic make on the transformation of professional career management and changing professional skills for achieving career purposes and tasks, providing a competent approach to the labor market. Based on the results, the authors conclude that some megatrends have transformed how professional career development occurs.  

The article is well written, but it has some areas for improvement.

In the introduction there are some statements for which reference should be made to existing research: "For instance, Malaysia and the Philippines are leading the race in global digital sectors of e-commerce retail."

The authors should explain why they limited their analysis to Asian countries. Statements such as "...due to their latest transitions in e-commerce and related digital industries" are also valid for countries other than Asian ones.

Please provide a meaningful conclusion to this research, Why this research is essential? How is beneficial to policymakers? What will be the future?

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.doc

Reviewer 3 Report

The paper addresses the issue related to the impact of global megatrends, COVID-19 and the digital economy on the transformation of professional career management in Asian countries.  Its main aim includes "to systematically analyse the affection that global megatrends, digitalizing economy, and continuing COVID-19 pandemic make on the transformation of professional career management and changing professional skills for achieving career goals and tasks, providing a competent approach to the labor market".

The issue addressed in the paper is relevant and topical, especially from the perspective of the labour market and socio-economic development of different countries. In the face of contemporary social, economic, technological and environmental challenges, there is a need to conduct research on the impact of these megatrends on the required skills of employees and career management models implemented at the level of individuals, organisations or countries.

The introduction provides important arguments on the relevance of the research problem undertaken. Particularly noteworthy is the presentation of evolutionary stages of the influence of information technologies and innovations on forming and developing a professional career, illustrated in Figure 1. The review of the literature also provides evidence confirming, that there is a need to seek for new models of professional career management. The authors of this paper have therefore satisfactorily demonstrated the cognitive and empirical gap in this field. The methodology used is appropriate and clear, the methods of data collection and analysis have been clearly and properly described. The results of the qualitative analysis of secondary material from the literature review are presented in a logical and clear manner. The conclusions are consistent with the evidence and arguments presented.

Despite the significant merits of the study presented, I include some critical comments, aimed at improving the manuscript. My main comment concerns the completeness of the topic covered and specifically the relationship between the title, aim and the content of the paper. In the introduction, reference was made primarily to the impact of technological progress (and especially digital transformation) on the emergence of new demands on workers' skills and the consequent need to change approaches to career management. It was pointed out that the socio-economic digital transformation was greatly accelerated under the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some reference was also made to the impact of globalisation on the career management process. What the introduction does not address, however, is the impact of other megatrends mentioned in the first sentence of the introduction on professional career management (demographic changes, climatic changes, military conflicts, economic recession). The introduction thus suggests that the main emphasis of the research is on the impact of technological advances and digital transformation on professional career management.

Moreover, in the Material and Methods section it is emphasised that „The this study focuses on professional career management in the digital economy of Asian countries”. Furthermore, presenting the search strategy, it was stated that the key words used were: "Digital Economy," "Career management," "Professional Career Management," and "Asian Countries." The search terms lacked those, referring to other, than digital transformation, megatrends. Also from this section, it therefore appears that it is mainly about career management in the digitalised world.

In the Results and Discussion section, there is also little analysis of how other megatrends affect employees’ skills and their career development, with the exception of section 4.1. where some megatrends and their impact on world development are presented (figure 3), as well as lines 800-811 where demographic issues are referred to in the context of career management and employment conditions.

Therefore, given the rationale for the research presented in the introduction, the methodology section, as well as the results obtained, I would suggest narrowing the title of the paper and its aim by limiting them to identifying the impact of the digital economy (and possibly Covid-19 pandemic) on the transformation of career management in Asian countries. The content in the abstract and section 4.1 would need to be adjusted accordingly (the analytical results presented in p.4.1. make a strong case that digital transformation is one of the important megatrends affecting the labour market and economic development).

Currently in my opinion the content of the paper does not exhaust the subject matter contained in the title and in the aim of the paper (the title and aim are broader and go beyond the content presented in the text), which causes a certain dissatisfaction of the reader.

 Other specific comments:

-       Technical corrections are required as spaces are missing between words: e.g. line 380, 381, 392, 399….

-       Some sentences are incomprehensible: e.g. line 444-445 - "There are several through the creation of the digital economy to support and facilitate economic development" – I guess there is some word missing in this sentence - maybe: there are several opportunities (??)....

-       Figure 7 - the idea of this figure is unclear to me, as I do not see a clear link between the aspects indicated in the figure (resulting, as I understand, from the impact of megatrends) and professional career management - the figure needs some explanations given in the text showing where is the link between the indicated aspects and the career management.

-       Directions for future research (more closely correlating with the results of the secondary analysis presented in the paper) also should be detailed.

 

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.doc