Ministry tasked to upskill labour force

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SIBU: The Ministry of Human Resources has been entrusted to upskill the workers to ensure that come 2020, 50 per cent of the labour force in the country are skilled workers.

The state Labour Department director August Buma said the present percentage of skilled workers in the country stood at 30 per cent.

“By next year it should increase to 33 per cent,” he told reporters after touring the booths of 17 participating employers in the AZAM Job

Placement 2015 programme at ‘tamu’ car park of Sibu Jaya here recently. He said having a diploma alone did not necessarily make one a skilled worker in the labour market.

To reach the highly skilled level, one required five to six years’ work experience, he explained.

On the labour scenario, he noted it would be unfair to make comparison with Singapore, adding that there were between 10,000 and 20,000 Sarawakians living in Johor, commuting daily to work in Singapore.

“Some 150,000 Malaysians cross over to Singapore and come back after work,” he said, adding that not even Peninsular Malaysia could compete in terms of good-paying jobs in Singapore.

He, however, said when workers were paid more the cost of living would go up.

August also advised potential job seekers to avoid asking too high a salary and not to be choosy.

He said employers these days would not look at academic qualifications alone, but also technical and work experience.

He also quoted the advice of Malaysian Employers Federation for workers to avoid job hopping during the present economic situation to avoid losing their seniority.