Industry standards technical skills boosts fresh graduates employability, says HR expert
22 Oct 2022
Graduates with technical skills based on current industry standards can be employed much more easily amidst tight competition in the workforce, a human resource expert said.
This would lead fresh graduates with expertise and knowledge in the areas of business and education towards greater employability, Dr Gajendra Balasingham, chief executive officer of GKK Consultants Sdn Bhd, told Bernama today.
“This is more so since companies want manpower who can perform and work with the least supervision from Day One,” he said on the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between GKK and Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP).
Under the MOU, GKK would train and equip UniMAP’s fresh graduates on know-how and insights on interacting and working in today’s demanding workforce.
UniMAP’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Technologist Dr Zaliman Sauli, said the varsity plans to focus on overall graduate employability that would boost technical and vocational education and training (TVET) opportunities.
“Starting firstly with the young graduates from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering & Technology, they will be prepared with the overall knowledge and in-depth skills required in specific fields of today’s manpower demands and employability,” he said.
UniMAP’s raison d’etre was to produce highly-skilled engineers to fulfil and support Malaysia’s Industrial Blueprint.
Working closely with the Ministry of Higher Education, GKK and UniMAP are aiming towards creating strong, skilled professionals who will address the manpower needs of Malaysia and the specific needs of selected industries.
The first batch to be trained, numbering around 50, will start their sessions soon.
Gajendra said: “Very often, as new fresh graduates lack much needed experience, many employers do not have the resources, time or management training schemes to upskill such manpower.”
Such training and preparation is crucial to continue to lower the unemployment rate which in May 2022 stood at 3.9 per cent or 637,700 persons, a 1.8 per cent reduction compared to the previous month’s figure of 649,300 persons, according to the Statistics Department.
It is encouraging to know that according to Trading Economics’ latest findings, the unemployment rate in Malaysia further declined to 3.7 per cent in August 2022.
Source: Bernama
