Employees in Malaysia urged to adopt lifelong learning goal

Reskilling and upskilling are essential for everyone and all employees in Malaysia should embrace a spirit of lifelong learning, said Datuk Seri Zaini Ujang, Secretary-General of Malaysia’s Human Resources Ministry.

He said, “The most important asset for any nation is its people, not its natural resources or economic system. Countries with no natural resources, on the other hand, can grow rapidly with good human capital development.”

Citing the examples of Japan and Germany, where every employee is entitled to 60 hours of reskilling training a year, which is equivalent to eight workdays, Zaini suggested that employees who receive training make fewer mistakes and are more productive, reported The Star.

To that end, the HR Ministry is working with agencies such as the Human Resources Development Corp (HRD Corp) to develop a highly skilled knowledge-based workforce through upskilling and reskilling, Zaini revealed. The government is targeting to raise the percentage of highly skilled Malaysian workers to 35% by 2030,

The HR ministry is also working to strengthen the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) ecosystem for upskilling, reskilling, and multi-skilling for trainers and trainees. Vocational reskilling would help Malaysia reduce reliance on low-skilled foreign workers, said Zaini.

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He also called on employees and employees to collectively improve TVET to strengthen the workforce in Malaysia, saying, “We should not be all theoretical; instead, we should provide examples of how training can benefit everyone.”