MEGA JOB FAIRS ON MAY 20
Govt to review role of JobsMalaysia centres so they could be interactive, effective and customer-friendly
JOBSEEKERS should mark May 20 on their calendars as a huge employment opportunity is coming their way. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday announced the government would hold mega job fairs at all 11 Urban Transformation Centres and four JobsMalaysia centres nationwide.
“We expect about 20,000 jobs will be up for grabs, offered by 300 employers.”
Najib added the government would review the role of JobsMalaysia centres so they could be more interactive, effective and customer-friendly as part of the effort to empower public employment agencies, which was one of the five core areas of its transformation initiatives.
The other four were prioritising workers’ welfare; optimising human capital, strengthening policy planning and the wage system; enabling technical, vocational education training (TVET); and, expanding the scope of social security coverage.
“We also want the JobsMalaysia centres to play an active role in job matching between workers and employers,” he told some 5,000 strong crowd at the National Labour Day celebration here themed “Creative Workers, Innovation Makers”.
Based on a report entitled “Future of Jobs: Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the prime minister said there was a need to prepare Malaysia to face changes that would greatly affect its workers.
“There will be creation of new jobs that do not exist today and job displacements will occur.
“The WEF report has stated that 65 per cent of the world labour force, about 7.1 million jobs, will be displaced between 2015 and 2020 due to redundancy, automation and disintermediation. We must prepare the country and the people from now to face such changes.”
To raise the disabled’s marketability and skills, the prime minister yesterday kickstarted the OKU Talent Enhancement Programme (OTEP).
Najib also thanked Sentoria Group Bhd and Mydin Mohamed Holding Bhd for hiring 88 and 66 disabled workers, respectively.
Citing the success story of disabled businesswoman Noorazizah Muhammad Zambri, Najib praised her determination to successfully sell car fragrance and perfumes using a grant of RM52,000 from the OKU Business Incentive Assistance Scheme. Noorazizah had also hired seven disabled workers.
Najib encouraged employers to adopt the Productivity-Linked Wage System (PLWS) as it would address the income gap and strengthen the salary system in the private sector.
“Nearly 81,000 employers have adopted the PLWS as of April, which involve about 3.5 million workers. We hope to achieve the target of 85,000 employers using PLWS that will benefit about 3.7 million workers by 2020.”
Najib also urged employers to use the National Wage Index (NWI) once it is tentatively ready by July.
The NWI will act as a benchmark for employers to determine the salary level of their workers by matching their qualifications, skills and productivity.
The prime minister was also upbeat by the growing number of women in the workforce, which saw an increase of 45.8 per cent in 2006, to 54.3 per cent last year.
He said the government would continue working with the private sector to provide a conducive working environment, including maternity and paternity leave, and lauded Malayan Banking Bhd for its decision to allow its female staff to take maternity leave up to one year.