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| To become a high-income nation by 2020, Malaysia requires the creation of more jobs across the skill spectrum. |
The driving force behind this shift is the need to ensure a skills gap does not widen in Malaysia, and that companies can be confident of having the pipeline of workers they need.
According to the World Bank’s Malaysia Economic Monitor 2014: Towards a middle-class Society, Malaysia’s move to become a high-income nation by 2020 requires the creation of jobs across the skills spectrum.
The World Bank also expects local employment to rise to 12.7 million by 2020, from 10.4 million in 2010 and 11.3 million in 2014.
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| Anthony Lee |
Many of these new jobs will be in economically important industries that have been identified as key drivers of growth and development. However, the rapid expansion of these National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) has often meant a delay in matching employers with the right workers and right skills.
In a 2013 survey, Grant Thornton found that 62% of firms in Malaysia have difficulty in finding workers with the right skills, while 48% identify the lack of talent as a constraint for future growth.
There are a number of ways of addressing this seeming mismatch between supply and demand. Government agencies such as TalentCorp are working closely with leading employers to identify, develop and implement initiatives to narrow the skills gap and help Malaysian talents thrive.
With a clear focus on domestic development through education and upskilling programmes, graduate outreaches and career fairs, and women in the workplace initiatives, Malaysia is also heeding the World Bank’s advice that “one way of filling the skills deficit is to reach out to talent from abroad”.
Helping to underpin this is the fact that when compared to other nations, the World Bank found that Malaysia has low numbers of expatriate professionals living and working within its borders relative to the share of semi-skilled or unskilled migrant workers.
With a clear focus on domestic development through education and upskilling programmes, graduate outreaches and career fairs, and women in the workplace initiatives, Malaysia is also heeding the World Bank’s advice that “one way of filling the skills deficit is to reach out to talent from abroad”.
Helping to underpin this is the fact that when compared to other nations, the World Bank found that Malaysia has low numbers of expatriate professionals living and working within its borders relative to the share of semi-skilled or unskilled migrant workers.
The Immigration Department estimates that only 2% of all registered foreign workers were classified as expatriates as of October 2011.
In absolute terms, the World Bank estimates that a year earlier in 2010 there were 46,000 foreigners with expatriate status residing in Malaysia, compared with the 310,000 skilled Malaysians living abroad during the same period.
In absolute terms, the World Bank estimates that a year earlier in 2010 there were 46,000 foreigners with expatriate status residing in Malaysia, compared with the 310,000 skilled Malaysians living abroad during the same period.
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| Alois Hofbauer |
As a result, Malaysia has room to tap into its highly educated diaspora to help fill the skills gap, and create a way for them to come back and contribute positively to the development of their homeland.
To facilitate the return of more Malaysian professionals from abroad and to support the retention of top expatriate talent, TalentCorp oversees the Returning Expert Programme (REP) and the Residence Pass – Talent (RP-T) respectively.
Anthony Lee is the chief executive of insurance group AIG Malaysia. A Malaysian by birth, he spent 12 years living and working in countries including Japan, Germany, China, the USA and the UK across a number of industries. When the chance arose to return to Malaysia, he found it too good an opportunity to turn down and applied for the REP.
“The abundance of opportunities has enabled Malaysians like me to return and play a part in Malaysia’s transformation journey,” said Lee.
The REP facilitates the return of Malaysian professionals from abroad to fill specific high-value roles that require professional and technical expertise, aimed at creating a world-class workforce, particularly in the context of driving the nation’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).
Meanwhile, the RP-T is offered to highly qualified expatriates seeking to live and work in Malaysia on a long-term basis. The pass offers holders the opportunity to live and work in Malaysia for 10 years, allowing them to have stability of role and input into the economy. Additionally, spouses of RP-T holders are eligible to work in Malaysia.
To facilitate the return of more Malaysian professionals from abroad and to support the retention of top expatriate talent, TalentCorp oversees the Returning Expert Programme (REP) and the Residence Pass – Talent (RP-T) respectively.
Anthony Lee is the chief executive of insurance group AIG Malaysia. A Malaysian by birth, he spent 12 years living and working in countries including Japan, Germany, China, the USA and the UK across a number of industries. When the chance arose to return to Malaysia, he found it too good an opportunity to turn down and applied for the REP.
“The abundance of opportunities has enabled Malaysians like me to return and play a part in Malaysia’s transformation journey,” said Lee.
The REP facilitates the return of Malaysian professionals from abroad to fill specific high-value roles that require professional and technical expertise, aimed at creating a world-class workforce, particularly in the context of driving the nation’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).
Meanwhile, the RP-T is offered to highly qualified expatriates seeking to live and work in Malaysia on a long-term basis. The pass offers holders the opportunity to live and work in Malaysia for 10 years, allowing them to have stability of role and input into the economy. Additionally, spouses of RP-T holders are eligible to work in Malaysia.
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| Manindra Shrestha |
For Alois Hofbauer, the regional head of Nestlé Malaysia/Singapore and managing director of Nestlé, the RP-T certainly helps to give a long-term perspective to professional expatriates working and living in Malaysia.
“I especially like the fact that RP-T recipients are given a 10-year visa; it’s fantastic because it gives you the security of being able to make plans for the long run,” he says.
Both initiatives offer targeted, specific solutions to industry needs and look to address the short-term gap in the labour market. They bring in high-value skills that enrich Malaysia’s talent pool and create an environment where a transfer of knowledge can impact across the full value chain. And they are having an impact.
The World Bank found that “the REP and the RP-T programmes succeed at attracting people with the skills that Malaysia needs” and help fill skills gaps.
Since 2011, over 3,100 REP applications have been approved. In 2014 alone, TalentCorp approved REP for over 600 global Malaysians with expertise in key sectors, particularly finance, oil and gas, electronics, business services and healthcare – professions that appear to be in short supply.
“I especially like the fact that RP-T recipients are given a 10-year visa; it’s fantastic because it gives you the security of being able to make plans for the long run,” he says.
Both initiatives offer targeted, specific solutions to industry needs and look to address the short-term gap in the labour market. They bring in high-value skills that enrich Malaysia’s talent pool and create an environment where a transfer of knowledge can impact across the full value chain. And they are having an impact.
The World Bank found that “the REP and the RP-T programmes succeed at attracting people with the skills that Malaysia needs” and help fill skills gaps.
Since 2011, over 3,100 REP applications have been approved. In 2014 alone, TalentCorp approved REP for over 600 global Malaysians with expertise in key sectors, particularly finance, oil and gas, electronics, business services and healthcare – professions that appear to be in short supply.
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| Lokman Baharuddin |
The RP-T, meanwhile, has seen the issuance of over 3,000 approvals since its introduction in April 2011. In 2014 alone, more than 1,000 RP-T were issued for priority economic sectors.
Manindra Shrestha, country head, Talent Acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia and a recipient of the RP-T, agrees that initiatives like these can help Malaysia to meet its labour market needs. “The REP helps employers like Standard Chartered in our efforts to repatriate Malaysians with international experience and expertise back to Malaysia,” he explains.
With clear benefits to be gained, Malaysia is focusing on creating fluid channels of communication between employers, skills providers and job seekers. This not only helps identify where and when skills gaps arise, but also takes action to address them as quickly as possible.
One initiative aimed at supporting this is the Global Malaysians job portal, which was launched as a collaboration between TalentCorp and the Star Media Group. The portal enables overseas Malaysians who are looking to return to explore mid- to senior-level professional positions with leading employers in Malaysia’s key economic sectors.
Manindra Shrestha, country head, Talent Acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia and a recipient of the RP-T, agrees that initiatives like these can help Malaysia to meet its labour market needs. “The REP helps employers like Standard Chartered in our efforts to repatriate Malaysians with international experience and expertise back to Malaysia,” he explains.
With clear benefits to be gained, Malaysia is focusing on creating fluid channels of communication between employers, skills providers and job seekers. This not only helps identify where and when skills gaps arise, but also takes action to address them as quickly as possible.
One initiative aimed at supporting this is the Global Malaysians job portal, which was launched as a collaboration between TalentCorp and the Star Media Group. The portal enables overseas Malaysians who are looking to return to explore mid- to senior-level professional positions with leading employers in Malaysia’s key economic sectors.
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For Lokman Baharuddin, director of human resources at ExxonMobil Malaysia, it is important to access this international network of globally skilled and talented Malaysians because “oil and gas is a global business. Hence, we need world-class talent – highly productive, globally competitive Malaysians with global mindset and complemented by top international talent.”
For Lokman Baharuddin, director of human resources at ExxonMobil Malaysia, it is important to access this international network of globally skilled and talented Malaysians because “oil and gas is a global business. Hence, we need world-class talent – highly productive, globally competitive Malaysians with global mindset and complemented by top international talent.”
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| Angela Cheong |
While for Angela Cheong, HR vice-president of Keysight Technologies Malaysia, it is also about the longer-term view.
“Keysight in Malaysia has homegrown Malaysian leaders with global business responsibilities,” she explains.
“We look forward to continuously tapping on the strength of Malaysia’s talent pool to grow more global Malaysians to be the next generation leaders in our company.”
“Keysight in Malaysia has homegrown Malaysian leaders with global business responsibilities,” she explains.
“We look forward to continuously tapping on the strength of Malaysia’s talent pool to grow more global Malaysians to be the next generation leaders in our company.”
Source: The Star Online - Malaysia
http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2015/04/24/How-Malaysians-abroad-are-bridging-a-skills-gap/?style=biz
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