Over 160,000 jobs to be created this year – PMO
KUALA LUMPUR: Over 160,000 new job opportunities are estimated to be created this year through committed investment, the result of close coordination between the government and industries.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), in a statement yesterday, said the government always welcomes offers from Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and the SME Association of Malaysia to work together to overcome the unemployment rate through initiatives under the 2021 Budget, especially when it involves skills upgrading and digitalisation.
This was conveyed during the second National Employment Council (NEC) meeting held virtually and chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Among those who joined the virtual meeting were Petronas chairman cum Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) prochancellor Tan Sri Ahmad Nizam Salleh, Khazanah Nasional managing director Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan, Sime Darby chief executive officer Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson and Malaysian Employers Federation president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman.
In the meeting, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) provided a situation report on the country’s employment ecosystem, while the Economic Stimulus Implementation and Coordination Unit Between National Agencies (LAKSANA) presented the progress status of programmes initiated by the NEC.
In addition, the Special Task Force (STF) also submitted strategies to overcome the issue of unemployment and job mismatch so as to achieve three main objectives, namely matching human capital based on industry demand, increasing highly skilled employment opportunities and strengthening cooperation between the academic sector and industry.