KUALA LUMPUR, JUNE 21 — The KerJaya ECERhuman capital development programme has shown great success in enhancing the skills of graduates and job seekers in the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) and providing them with employment at participating companies.
Introduced by the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) since last year, the KerJaya ECER Programme has attracted 5,126 participants and 353 companies throughout the ECER region to date. Of these, a total of 1,500 potential employees have successfully been employed.
There are currently 111 companies registered for the KerJaya ECER Programme within the ECER states. The programme was launched in Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan in December 2009, January and March 2010 respectively.
KerJaya ECER Programme consists of the Graduate Placement Opportunity Programme (GPO), Employee Placement Programme (EPP) and Skills Training Programme (STP).
Human Resource Manager of PASDEC in Pahang, Khatijah Majid said the programmes have helped PASDEC in hiring the right employees.
“These programmes are very instructional as they help graduates and job seekers to upgrade their skills to meet the requirements of companies that are hiring. At the same time, fresh graduates get work exposure which will benefit the companies hiring them,” said Khatijah.
Mohd Suhaimy, Managing Director of Mie Technicpart located in Kelantan said KerJaya ECER Programme’s training module gives potential employees the opportunities to improve their skills and gain work experience.
“We welcome this programme and we would like to see the ECERDC continuing with it so that qualified graduates from the East Coast region can participate and benefit from it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lee San Ming, General Manager for Rohm Wako Electronics in Kelantan observed that the financial assistance and services provided by ECER Development Council (ECERDC) has helped the company to slash its costs in hiring and training new employees.
The success of the KerJaya ECER Programme is also acknowledged by fresh graduates and job seekers.
Lee Gee Ming, an engineering graduate from Universiti Pahang Malaysia, said he was pleasantly surprised when he was offered a position which matched his qualifications and paid twice as much as his previous job, within half a month after registering for KerJaya ECER Programme at ECERDC’s office in Kota Bahru.
Fresh graduate, Nor Zahraa Zahari who is now working as a civil and structural engineer at an engineering consultancy, said she is very happy with her job which she clinched within a month after registering with ECERDC.
“In addition to getting a good job with good pay, I am now responsible for several main projects,” she said.
Amirul Awang, a Mechanical Engineering lecturer in Kolej TESDEC in Marang, Terengganu, added that the KerJaya ECER Programme holds great potential. He has recommended his family members and friends to sign up for it.
Targeted at the unemployed, new graduates and school leavers, KerJaya ECER Programme is part of ECERDC’s human capital development programmes that were formulated to mitigate the unemployment problem that was caused by the global economic crisis.
The programme is also in line with ECER’s vision to become a developed region by 2020, whereby human capital development plays a vital role in ensuring the success of ECER project implementation, particularly in creating a pool of skilled workers in the region that is crucial to attract more foreign and domestic direct investments.
KerJaya ECER Programme also runs parallel with Malaysia’s New Economic Model (NEM) which is based on knowledge, innovation and creativity, as it provides fresh graduates and job seekers with marketable skills before matching them to companies that require these skills.
ECERDC’s Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Jebasingam Issace John, said KerJaya ECER Programme is a significant initiative for ECER as it helps the region’s workforce to be competitive and employable in today’s fast changing workplace.
“At the same time, we hope KerJaya ECER Programmecan reverse the migration of talent out of the ECER and give skilled workers a good reason to come back to serve companies within the ECER,” he said.
According to the New Economic Model report, up to 80 per cent of the country’s workforce is educated up to SPM level while only 25 per cent of Malaysian jobs are in the higher skilled bracket.
KerJaya ECER Programme is a part of the RM7 billion economic stimulus package announced by the Government in November 2008. Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the ECER has been allocated RM40 million for skill training.