S’wak targets 500,000 skilled workers via SWIS data collection
Sarawak is targeting to have 500,000 skilled workers and a total of workforce of 1.5 million by 2030 with the help of the Sarawak Workforce Information System (SWIS), said Datuk Francis Harden Hollis.
The Education, Innovation and Talent Development Deputy Minister said the state needs more workers especially in key economic sectors.
“To ensure our state remains at the forefront of these industries, it’s imperative that we nurture and produce the right talent pool.
“This is where initiatives like SWIS become indispensable,” he said during the SWIS engagement session held at Sarawak Skills Auditorium here yesterday.
According to Harden, SWIS not only allows the understanding of the current trajectory, but also enables the state government to chart a course based on online data submission, which are live data, for future workforce development.
He said numbers and statistics often paint a vivid picture of reality, and hence Sarawak recognises the need for accurate data on skilled workforce within the state.
“This data serves as the foundation in which informed decisions and strategic planning can be built. The primary purpose of SWIS is to collect pertinent data that provide insights into the employment landscape.
“It is a web-based online system that captures the current and projected workforce supply, as well as demand data to reduce the gaps in employability and the surplus supply of graduates in institution level,” he said.
Harden said based on the Pocket Stats Q2 2023 from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM), Sarawak was among the top-five states for job vacancies, with 4,494 openings in Q1 2023 and 4,275 in Q4 2022.
Given that the statistics could indicate a mismatch or undersupply, data harvesting with the existence of SWIS is important for the state to study, analyse and populate supply as well as demand data for manpower planning, he added.
“My ministry is planning to further enhance SWIS to benefit both the institution and industry users upon registration in the system. For example, ecertificates will be provided to users who display their commitment towards entering data into SWIS,” he said.
Apart from that, Harden said there will be supply and demand data interaction between both the institution and industry through email notifications, while users are able to view manpower data through the statistical dashboard in SWIS.
He said his ministry is in the process of drafting the free tertiary education policy, which involves six state-owned institutions that will greatly affect data harvesting for SWIS, especially the supply data to be provided to the industry for employment opportunities.
“By understanding how employment looks across various sectors, we can effectively plan and allocate resources to address any gaps or challenges that may arise,” he said.
Harden also emphasised that SWIS operates with utmost respect for privacy, with its developers understanding the sensitivity of personal data.
“The system only collects statistical information, ensuring confidentiality is always maintained.”
Towards this end, he said the state needs the support of relevant parties in populating SWIS with accurate and up-todate data.
“Your contributions will significantly enhance the effectiveness of our analytics and planning efforts. We also urge you to leverage your networks to encourage others to enter their data into SWIS.
“Together, we can create a comprehensive repository of workforce information that will drive meaningful change and progress in Sarawak,” he said.
SWIS is one of the initiatives by the state government under the Education and Human Capital Development, which is also under the state’s Post Covid Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.
The system, which was developed together with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), aims to become a comprehensive labour market database system that contains information about industry demand for the workforce, and matching the demand for talent supply.