"Penjodohan Pekerjaan"

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The ministry launched a national job portal, JobsMalaysia, to promote "Penjodohan Pekerjaan".

.B. Senator Dato' Maznah Mazlan, the Deputy Minister of Ministry of Human Resources ("Kementerian Sumber Manusia")had recently made a presentation to a private crowd that I was privileged to be part of. It was a very good session that helps promote understanding of what efforts are in place for the good of the nation particularly on economic issues like Unemployment and Safety at Workplace. Many Malaysians are still at lost on what certain government ministry does. This is one of them. Hence, it is only justice that I share my understanding of the ministry (or at least my interpretation and perception of the ministry) in this post to the extent revealed to me by Maznah, a friendly figure (of course she has to be friendly. We are talking about human resource aren't we?).

Maznah shared some statistics that uncover the true strength of our (Malaysian) workforce. We have 28 million population of which, only 11.7 million are working. The rest are either retired, studying, underaged or simply unemployed. This is a shocking 41% of the population. No wonder the Inland Revenue Board goes crazy digging out non-compliances for the sake of realising penalties to enhance tax collection. Working alone does not progress the nation. Skills are required. High skills are required. Maznah refers it to be "Kemahiran Tinggi". Out of the 11.7 million workers, only 28% (i.e. 3.2 million) are considered highly skilled. This is a poor statistic relative to other countries such as Hong Kong (40%), Europe (70%) or Singapore (50%). No doubt these are developed nations, they ought to be our benchmark if Wawasan 2020 are to be achieved.

When analysed further, out of the 11.7 million, only 3.5 million (30%) are women. This may be a reflection of the society whereby quite significant portion of the society still holds strongly to the idea of 'housewives'. Women should be encouraged to work or recommence work for those who retired early to attend to their families. Although statistics were not shared in respect of retirees, Maznah did mention that retirees do have continuous roles to play in developing the nation particularly those with professional background and those with experience in their respective fields. For example, a retired lawyer can be in academic to help train the next generation of lawyers.

Maznah further shared efforts in place to facilitate "Penjodohan Pekerjaan" (Job Matching) to address the nation's current (2010) unemployment rate of 3.2%. Unemployement got worse at 3.8% in 2009 as the result of the economic meltdown in 2008/2009. A 0.6% recovery is merely the impact of the short term economic recovery but what needs to be addressed is the long term sustainability. Although 3.2% requires attention, we (Malaysia) are not in a critical state given that most economists consider anything below 4% to be as good as 'fully' employed.

The ministry launched a national job portal, JobsMalaysia, to promote "Penjodohan Pekerjaan". So far only 30,000 employers have advertised jobs in their respective organisations. There are 19 branches all over Malaysia that allows employers to set up their helpdesks that conduct instant interviews and potentially instant acceptance of applicants as employees. Suggested link: JobsMalaysia

Touching back on the issue of "Kemahiran Tinggi", highly skilled jobs need to be identified and measured by way of standards. This is probably something new in Malaysia. The ministry has identified 6,000 jobs (type) in Malaysia that can be categorised as "Kemahiran Tinggi". However, when benchmarked against standards such as NOS (National Occupational Standards), only 1,000 jobs (type) meet the criteria of the standards. Perhaps we ought to read what NOS is all about. Suggested link: NOS

Many Malaysian do not know what "Kementerian Sumber Manusia" represents. Such ignorance needs remedy. Of course the Senator can have various sessions with different sections of society but advertisement and promotion ('A&P') of their roles and purpose to society is more effective. I personally believe that A&P can do wonders when multiple platforms (TV, radio, billboards, newspaper and internet) are used concurrently to convey impactful messages to the general public. Imagine even Sanusi Junid managed to influence the entire nation to drink "Air Kelapa Muda" (Coconut Water) back in the 80's just by using TV and radio broadcasting - evident in the "Air Kelapa Muda" craze that haunted the primary school students in the 80's.

SOCSO declared that the number of accidents at work has increased from 55,000 incidents in 2009 to 57,000 incidents in 2010; a 3.6% increase.

So what is this ministry about? In my mind (and most people's), I can only think of SOCSO (Social Security Organisation) or commonly known in the Malay term PERKESO ("Pertubuhan Keselamatan Sosial"). "Kementerian Sumber Manusia" consists of many departments that help promote condusive working conditions in Malaysia. Some of the prominent ones are "Jabatan Hal Ehwal Kesatuan Sekerja" that manages unions, "Jabatan Perhubungan Keusahawanan" that liaises with corporate employers and "Jabatan Tenaga Kerja" that handles disputes between empoyers and employees/unions. Listed below is a more exhaustive list (not in any particular order) of the various departments within the ministry that works together to promote condusive working conditions in Malaysia:

1. Jabatan Tenaga Kerja
2. Jabatan Tenaga Manusia
3. Jabatan Perhubungan Perusahaan
4. Jabatan Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerja
5. Jabatan Hal Ehwal Kesatuan Sekerja
6. Jabatan Pembangunan Kemahiran
7. Mahkamah Perusahaan
8. Pertubuhan Keselamatan Social
9. Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad
10. Perbadanan Tabung Pembangunan Kemahiran
11. Institut Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan Negara (NIOSH)
12. Institut Sumber Manusia Kebangsaan

Maznah ended the session on occupational safety and health. SOCSO declared that the number of accidents at work has increased from 55,000 incidents in 2009 to 57,000 incidents in 2010; a 3.6% increase. 38% of these accidents occured when commuting to work. In addition, there are many other factors for which employers should be aware of. These factors can cause occupational medical conditions. The more prominent ones are chemical exposure, noise in excess of 80 decibels, agronomics of office furniture, long hours and stress. Employers are urged to embrace occupational safety and health mindset in 3 critical perspectives: Policies, Commitment & Financially.

This session with Maznah was a very informative one which should be repeated with others. Her ministry does play an important role for the betterment of our lives. Well done! Yang Berhormat Dato' and I hope the ministry will make a difference to Malaysians as you have rightly pointed out when closing your presentation with "We hope to make a difference to all"




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