ISKANDAR PUTER, Aug 23 — The Johor government is committed to tackling the issue of unemployment in the state, especially involving youths, graduates and also the passive unemployed amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Johor Investment, Entrepreneur Development and Human Resource Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Izhar Ahmad said the state’s Strategic Human Capital Unit (SMI) has drawn up a plan as well as taken proactive action to address the issue.
He explained that SMI has actively been holding engagement sessions with various parties to obtain input and relevant information on the situation.
“Among the initiatives implemented under the Johor Human Capital Agenda are the Johor Career Programme, the Johor Skills Training Programme (Mahir Johor) and the Skilled Manpower Certification Programme.
“The state government is in the process of setting up the Johor Human Capital Steering Committee to create better employment opportunities and produce more skilled and competitive human capital after the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Mohd Izhar.
He said this when replying to a question from S. Gopalakrishnan (PKR-Tiram) on the state government's plans and action to reduce the unemployment rate in Johor at the Johor state assembly in Kota Iskandar here today.
Mohd Izhar, who is also the Larkin assemblyman, said the state government also plans to focus on new industry sectors that are more relevant and practical at present, such as Future Emerging Technology (FET), Internet of Things (IoT) and creative industries.
“Skilled manpower born from the sector will not be fully dependent on job opportunities or employers, instead they will have an alternative option which is to venture into entrepreneurship.
“From a company or business that they set up, it will then create more jobs," he explained.
On August 8, it was reported that the unemployment rate in Malaysia has climbed to 4.8 per cent in June 2021.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) said the unemployment rate has increased after four consecutive months of declines, with a total of 768,700 unemployed persons in the country, based on its Labour Force Survey.
