Can Penjana Help Job Seekers to Gain New Skills?

A Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Graduate is hopeful that she will be able to find a job soon with the various Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) initiatives announced by the government recently. Nor Najwa Razali, 25, was laid off from a publication company recently.

"I waited in anticipation for an announcement like this. It will benefit those who have been retrenched and I would like to gain new skills that would provide job opportunities for me. I used to work as a book editor, but I am willing to learn something new and apply it to my next job.

"I am looking at possible courses like office administration and hope that there are some initiatives that I can apply through Penjana. This is because I am not qualified for the RM4,000 training allowance for retrenched workers, who are not included under the Employment Insurance System.

"I hope that companies will give another chance for those who had been retrenched, with the RM800 incentive for employers who hire those under 40, among others, being a boost for them," said Najwa, who is currently living with her mother in Rawang.

She had been applying for several jobs, including administrative jobs in various companies since she was laid off in March, but to no avail.  She occupies her time and earns a little income by helping her cousin run a small business producing jeruk buah (pickled fruits).
 

The gig economy is becoming more popular as workers manage to gain new skills in a short amount of time

Chief executive officer of MauKerja, Ray Teng said its website received an average of 100,000 visitors daily before the Movement Control Order (MCO).

"However, during the MCO in March and April, the traffic dropped to about 40,000 to 50,000 visits daily. We thought more people would be searching for jobs during this period. However, we see the trend changing towards the end of April and May. In June, our daily traffic grew to about 110,000.

"We need to look at the overview, perspective, new skills and knowledge that would take some time depending on the type of the job. Blue-collar job training usually takes a shorter time, maybe one or two weeks, but white-collar job training sessions would take longer. So, the training would be for medium and long term. We need time to see the impact before job seekers are hired by businesses.

"From MauKerja's perspective, we strive to train job seekers on skills in applying for jobs. This kind of training is the missing link in the market. A lot of training providers focus more on the training of skills, but not much attention is given on skills involving job hunting, such as writing resumes and attending interviews."

He said aside from academic qualifications and job experience, job seekers could improve their employability by embracing a positive attitude in their work culture.

"Times have changed and more companies' human resources staff are looking at the (applicants') attitude, aside from the academic qualifications and experience. Some companies operate on a fast-paced and high-pressure atmosphere. So, if you can't adjust to their work culture, you would end up leaving in three months. This is something we need to understand."

He said those retrenched or facing pay cut during the MCO period were forced to either find a new job or temporary jobs in the burgeoning gig economy.

Training programmes can help job seekers to gain new skills, increasing their chance of finding a job.

GoGet co-founder Francesca Chia said the training programmes could be very useful if it job seekers can gain new skills, develop their professional language skills, receive more experience and value to bring to the table when they are engaged in a job.

She said the allocation by the government for the reskilling and upskilling would be effective if job seekers were concentrated on skills that the mass market required because "it was the mass market that has been hit by unemployment".

"I think firstly, it is crucial to have the whole picture in mind because employability and upskilling are only applicable if the companies and businesses can afford to even hire.

"Today, the main barrier to this is that companies are not getting much sales and customers during the MCO period. This is why companies have to manage their costs," she said. She added that policies on spending and driving consumer expenditure were the solution for businesses to eventually receive more orders before they could start spending on hiring more people.

"We see the users (employers) on our platform seeking a part-timer who is well-rounded, who can do the job technically and possesses soft skills.

"This is critical in times like this when our part-timers have to be flexible for the demand and the challenging times as well. We are always willing to help the businesses working with our GoGetter part-timers to grow and get more revenue and sales."

Source: New Straits Times

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