Axiata’s talent development strategy – a zigzag career

Summary

Attracting young talent into the telecommunications industry has become an uphill battle, as digital-native graduates increasingly look toward technology and startup employers instead of legacy telcos. Axiata, one of Asia's largest telecommunications groups, has had to rethink how it competes for the next generation of professionals across its multiple markets in Southeast and South Asia.

Group leadership shares how the operator is reframing career growth away from the traditional linear climb up a single ladder, toward what the company describes as a zigzag career, a model built around lateral moves, cross-functional exposure and skill diversification rather than a fixed upward path within one function.

Axiata's value proposition for top talent centers on standing out in a sector competing against technology giants and fast-growing startups for the same pool of engineers, data specialists and digital strategists. Career mobility and breadth of experience across a large, multi-market telecom group are advantages smaller, single-market employers cannot easily replicate, and that breadth matters to a generation weighing multiple industries against each other.

For HR leaders and talent strategists in telecommunications and adjacent industries, Axiata's approach offers a window into how a legacy sector is adapting its employee value proposition to stay relevant to a workforce with different expectations of career progression and growth.

What does it take for a traditional telecom operator to compete for talent against the pull of technology and startup careers?