Focus on keeping local talent in country, govt told

 

The Malaysian Employers Federation urged the government to provide programmes to encourage skilled workers to continue working in the country.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) has called on the government to ensure that local talent brought back to work in the country have the tools and environment to succeed.

MEF president Syed Hussain Syed Husman said at present, the work environment in most companies was too rigid and did not allow skilled workers to innovate or progress in their respective fields.

He said Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp), the national agency under the human resources ministry tasked with wooing Malaysian professionals back, should not be shut down as suggested by certain quarters.

“It is inadvisable to shut down TalentCorp just because it does not bring more skilled Malaysians back under the returning experts programme (REP).

“It’s not easy to attract highly skilled workers. However, the focus should be on keeping such talent in Malaysia,” he said in a statement.

Last year, TalentCorp only attracted 5,774 Malaysians home through the REP, which was only 0.33% of the total number of Malaysians who emigrated.

Syed Hussain said the government needed to provide programmes to encourage skilled workers to continue working in the country as well as opportunities to advance in their careers.

He called on the government and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to give special attention to the skilled talent brought home through the REP, adding that Putrajaya should channel more resources into TalentCorp in order for it to be more effective. - FMT