Transforming Malaysia for the Future of Work

In 2019, TalentCorp continues its efforts to strengthen and create a safer, more productive and inclusive workforce and workplace for the Future of Work.

TalentCorp, being the national agency that drives Malaysia’s talent strategy, aims to ensure that the Malaysian workforce continue to meet the demands of the future. As the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4) brings about changes in the industry and the economy globally, it has become clear that Malaysia has to change to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world or be overtaken by more progressive nations.

In October 2018, TalentCorp came under the Ministry of Human Resources. This change has renewed our commitment to carry out the mandate to elevate the Malaysian workforce and workplace to a higher level, especially in light of IR4.

Reinventing the Workforce, Rethinking the Workplace

Currently, only 28% of Malaysia’s workforce is high-skilled¹. To become a high-income, knowledge-based economy, this number needs to increase while ensuring that Malaysians are equipped with the right skills to work with machines, data and algorithms.

As Malaysia heads towards becoming an ageing population, we also need to create a work environment that attracts talent from all walks of life and ages, and enable Malaysians to continue working and supporting their families at the same time.

TalentCorp believes that implementing WLPs at the workplace is the key to this. We are glad that the Government shares this vision and has crafted policies that will shape the nation’s workforce and workplace for the future.

For example, Budget 2019 saw several initiatives that encourage diversity and inclusion and WLPs in the workplace:

Tax incentives for companies that hire seniors
The setting up of childcare centres for all Government offices
The push for more women in leadership roles, and to increase women on boards to 30%.

Last year also saw the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR) and the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM) working hand in hand to support the WLP, Diversity and Inclusion agenda at the LIFE AT WORK 2018 Awards (LAWA2018). The Awards celebrated 86 organisations that champion diversity and inclusion and that have taken the steps to implement family-friendly, work-life practices at the workplace.

We believe that this cooperative synergy between MOHR and KPWKM is a strong example of how the public and private sector can work together to support the Government’s vision of a workplace that is able to meet the demands of the Future of Work.

More women at work

The women agenda also continues to be an important part of TalentCorp’s talent strategy. Currently, women are leaving the workforce in their prime, a particularly concerning fact as women make up 64.5% of our public university graduates². If more women join the workforce, Malaysia’s GDP could potentially increase by between RM6 billion and RM9 billion³.

To encourage the private sector to enable more women to return to work, TalentCorp launched the inaugural REIGNITE Award in collaboration with KPWKM in March 2018. The Awards, in support of the Government’s announcement that 2018 is the Year of Women Empowerment, celebrates employers that support women returning to the workforce after a career break.

The Government reinforced its commitment to transform the workplace when YB Kula Segaran, Minister of Human Resources, announced during the LIFE AT WORK 2018 Awards the individual income tax exemption of up to 12 months to women who want to return to work after a career break. The tax break programme will be implemented in 2019, and overseen and managed by TalentCorp.

Collaborating for change

In line with our view that collaboration creates change, TalentCorp engaged in a number of initiatives last year.

Around October 2018, we worked with MOHR and the Jabatan Tenaga Manusia to develop TVET talent and improve graduate employability through Nurturing EXpert Talent (NEXT), a national talent analytics platform that acquires and analyses data about the quality and ability of the Malaysian workforce. Then, in November, we had a talent coaching session with Institut Latihan Perindustrian’s career counsellors and representatives, with the aim of guiding them to better understand NEXT and assist in equipping students with the necessary skillsets for the Future of Work.

In March 2018, we also worked with InvestKL and the Ministry of Higher Education to launch the Malaysia Global Talent (MGT) programme with the aim to nurture 5,500 global Malaysian leaders by 2022. In the first phase of MGT, 12 top global MNCs and 10 public universities will collaborate to select, mentor and nurture Malaysia’s most promising talents. We believe that all the initiatives above will pave the way for a more dynamic workforce that will be able to meet the demands of the Future of Work.

TalentCorp looks forward to working with the public and private sectors in 2019 to ensure that all organisations in Malaysia continue to change the way we work in Malaysia for the betterment of the country. It is our hope as well that more organisations will embrace WLPs at work, thus creating a safe and productive environment for all Malaysians to work in.

¹Labour Force Survey, Q3 2018, Department of Statistics
²Output Data 2017 of Public University (Ministry of Education, Malaysia)
³Women Matter: An Asian Perspective (McKinsey, 2012)

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