Posts Tagged ‘Employment’

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Less non-Malay applicants for civil service jobs

October 17th, 2010
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Earlier, we saw some very suspicious statistics by Deputy Minister Murugiah which looked like an insult to our intelligence.

Today, we read that there were only 2,595 Chinese and 2,341 Indian of the 50,756 successful applicants for government post last year.  That’s 5.11% Chinese and 4.61% Indians. Definitely can’t achieve a balanced ratio in next 30 to 75 years.

If the reason given is that not many applicants, then one would logically ask: what steps were taken to generate more awareness. I seriously doubt that the issue of low application only occurred in 2009. In fact, post 2007 rally, there seems to be an increase of Indian staff, even though its just based on my observation.

There must be some innovative measures to attract more (quality) applicants. Maybe can rope in NGOs, temples, have booths at areas with high population of non-Malays, advertise in vernacular paper/radio/TV channels, promote at IPTA/IPTS and so on.

The civil service this year will take in more non-Malays, who make up only 5% of the more than 50,700 applicants for government jobs last year.

There would be more briefings and talks to prepare them for the public sector, Public Service Commission (PSC) chairman Tan Sri Jamaluddin Ahmad Damanhuri said, adding there will be more interview centres nationwide to draw more non-Malays for jobs in the civil service.

“Our staff will be at the interview centres to explain the jobs available for certain levels of qualifications,” he said at the end of a four-day public services conference here yesterday.

Jamaluddin said the lack of non-Malay staff in the public service was mostly due to the fact that many were unaware of the jobs available as well as qualification requirements.

He added that more than 1.5 million people applied for jobs last year and only 50,756 candidates were selected.

Among them were 2,595 Chinese, 2,341 Indians and the rest Malays and other races.

Meanwhile, Public Service Department director-general Datuk Seri Abu Bakar Abdullah said those who intend to join the government can use its eSMSM short-messaging service to check on their application status, interviews and results of interviews.

He said the public sector is always encouraging non-Malays, including those from Sabah and Sarawak, to join the service.

“It is important for us to have public servants from various races to enable the sector to be more sensitive to the different cultures and views of the public,” he said.

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Increase in Chinese and Indians hired in civil service?

October 14th, 2010
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This is the statement made by Deputy Minister Murugiah. It seems the percentage increased since from 2008, but at a meager 9% for the Chinese and 4% for the Indians. This means 58.3% of 1,559 Chinese and 42.7% of 1833 Indians have been hired in 2010 (up to June 15).

Is an increase of 9% or 4% over two years something to be proud of? At this rate, when can the civil service be on a more balanced ratio?

But wait, the statistics for 2008 was 49.2% out of 4,648 Chinese and 38.8 per cent of the 6,106 Indian candidates interviewed were hired.

Now, can anyone who is expert in Maths tell me which is bigger:

58.3% of 1,559 or 49.2% of 4,648?

42.7% of 1,833 or 38.8% of 6,106?

I believe elementary division is taught in primary school.

I wonder whose head is going to roll for making the Deputy Minister seem so [fill in the blanks].

Putrajaya moved to quell criticisms today that the civil service was dominated by one race, claiming there was an increase in non-Bumiputera government servants since 2008.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Senator Datuk T. Murugiah told a press conference in Parliament today that it was not true that the government only focussed on hiring Bumiputeras into the civil service.

“People always criticise us for hiring only those from one race to work in the service but it is not true. The percentage of non-Bumiputeras hired by the Public Service Commission has increased in the past few years,” he said.

Murugiah explained that 58.2 per cent of the 1,559 Chinese job applicants interviewed for posts in the service were hired by the commission as of June 15 this year.

The number of Chinese employed to date, he added, had seen an increase of nine per cent as compared to 2008.

“There were only 49.2 per cent of Chinese applicants chosen out of the 4,648 who applied. If there are many applicants from one particular race, we will look at the number of applications, their qualifications and their presentations during their interviews.

“We have many applicants but they may not make the screening process due to their qualifications… they have to comply to the set of rules and regulations,” he said.

He added that the applicants were shortlisted by a computer, which wa programmed to filter through applicants according to their qualifications.

“There is no bias there. All races are given opportunity for top management positions. There is no quota system,” he stressed.

Murugiah added that for the Indian applicants, the commission had hired 42.7 per cent of the 1,833 who were interviewed this year.

This, he said, was higher than in 2008 when only 38.8 per cent of the 6,106 interviewed were hired.

But, wait till you read this statement from Minister Koh Tsu Koon which seems to indicate another set of figures (article on 27 August 2010):

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said the Public Services Commission (PSC) received 25,789 applications from the Chinese last year compared with 12,872 in 2007.

Koh said the appointments offered by PSC to the Chinese during that period also rose by almost 100 per cent — 2,600 appointed as civil servants last year compared with 1,323 in 2007.

He said statistics as at June this year showed that Malaysia had 1.29 million civil servants, with Malays making up 77 per cent, followed by Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputeras at 8.7 per cent, Chinese (six per cent), Indians (four per cent) and others (4.3 per cent).

Let’s take an average  increase of 2,600 Chinese staff in year, and if you want to increase the 6 percent representation to 20%, how long would it take? Assuming number of civil servants will be 1.3 million.  That would be increase from 77,400 to 260,000 which is 182,600 new staff.  Assuming an unrealistic assumption of no Chinese staff retiring or perishing while in service, it would take another 70 years to reach the target.

Let’s take Murugiah’s figure from 2008 that about 2300 Indians are hired. Same scenario: assume the civil servants are to remain at 1.3 million, no Indian staff retiring or perishing in duty, and we want to increase the 4% (51,600 out of 1.29 million) to 10% (130,000 out of 1.3 million). That’s an increase of 78,400 and would take 34 years to reach.

Obviously, its nearly impossible to have the target ratios within this century. You can’t create new posts since the civil service is too big for the population, and you can’t remove current staff from the high percentage group and give the place to the lower percentage groups. Some sort of “affirmative action” for the minority groups can be proposed, but it won’t be acceptable to some quarters.

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Yet another scheme for unemployed grads

July 18th, 2010
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Today, HR minister (does he look younger by 30 years now? ) announced a program called GEP – Graduate Employability Program, a special training program  to “equip fresh and unemployed graduates with skills required by the industries”. RM10.5 million had been allocated and is managed by PSMB (HRDF).  There are six main skills to be focused on: ICT; competencies; transferable skills which include communication, analytical thinking and problem-solving; relevant working experience; exploring new route for their career; and job placement. The target group would be diploma and degree holders who had been unemployed for at least three months after graduation.

“The GEP’s aim is to increase the skills and competencies of graduates to prepare them for the job market with higher salaries and to assist the less fortunate graduates who cannot find employment due to lack of skills,” he said when launching the GEP here.

…”We will select the first batch of 1,000 graduates for this programme and they will undergo training between five and six months,” the minister said.

He said the training would include three components – classroom training; attachment; and job placement.

“The attachment component provides hands-on learning environment and because of on-the-job experience, it makes its easier for trainees to apply what has been learnt in the classroom to where they are attached to,” he said.

He said the government would bear the course fee for the graduates who would also be paid a monthly allowance of RM500 during the training.

He said on completion of the GEP, the trainees would secure employment almost immediately.

Great news indeed. No doubt about it. I’m happy for the graduates who couldn’t/didn’t/wouldn’t  learn proper stuff in IPTA/IPTS due to a variety of reason (wrong course, outdated syllabus, personality problem, laziness, not focused, language problem, lecturer not good, AUKU, etc.) being given second chance.

You can download the form from HRDF website (but its not available or I can’t find it, as of 12.45am 18 July 2010)

But aren’t there similar schemes already? Remember GEMS?

The Graduate Employability Management Scheme (GEMS) is a government capacity building initiative to equip unemployed graduates with commercially useful skills and experiences that would enhance their employment opportunities. It is part of the RM7 billion stimulus package announced by the then Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Razak (who is currently the Prime Minister), to keep the economy of the country ticking. GEMS is expected to train up to 12,000 graduates over a period of two (2) years.

This progamme is based on the Graduate Employability Enhancement (GREEN) Programme which was organised by Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) with the support of various Government-linked companies (GLCs). Moving forward, Khazanah was given the mandate by the Government to manage GEMS and support the government’s initiatives to reduce unemployment among graduates. Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Razak launched the GEMS Programme on 13th March 2009 in Putrajaya.

Responsibilities

  • The GEMS programme is divided in two parts. in the first part, graduate will undergo a two and a half -months in-house training whereby they will be exposed to skills and qualities that will help improve their confidence and ability to communicate, as well as to manage tasks and responsibilities that are importatnt in their work life.
  • This will followed by a six-month on-the-job training at various organisation and institutions including GLCs under the second part of the programme. it will provide valuable working experiences and knowledge to support the participants’ future growth.

Requirements

  • Open to Malaysians who have graduated with recognised Degree.
  • Fresh graduates/Entry level applicants are encouraged to apply.
  • Obtained a minimum CGPA rating 2.5 or its equivalent.
  • Applicants must be below 27 years old.
  • Applicants with academic qualifications higher than a Bachelors’ Degree are not eligible to apply.
  • Applicants must be willing to undergo on-job-training at participating organization nationwide.

Allowance

Participant will receive monthly allowance of RM1000 during the training programme.

You can read about GEMS at its official website GEMS Portal.

How about Train and Place?

PROGRAM TRAIN AND PLACE SECARA PERCUMA
KEMENTERIAN SUMBER MANUSIA (KSM) mempelawa warganegara Malaysia yang berkelayakan untuk memohon bagi mengikuti Program Train and Place yang dilaksanakan bagi mempertingkat dan menjamin peluang pekerjaan
kepada warganegara Malaysia.
Syarat dan Kelayakan
1. Program ini terbuka kepada :
i. Pekerja yang diberhentikan
ii. Siswazah menganggur
iii. Belia Menganggur
2. Pemohon perlu terlebih dahulu berdaftar dengan portal JobsMalaysia di www.jobsmalaysia.gov.my
Tempoh Latihan
Latihan akan dijalankan pusat latihan yang dilantik oleh Kementerian Sumber Manusia bagi tempoh 1 hingga 6 bulan
Cara Memohon
Permohonan hendaklah menggunakan Borang Permohonan yang disediakan seperti dilampirkan atau secara on-line melalui portal www.jobsmalaysia.gov.my.
Yuran Latihan / Elaun Sara Diri
1. Yuran latihan adalah ditanggung oleh Kementerian Sumber Manusia
2. Pelatih akan diberikan elaun sara diri minima RM500.00 sebulan.
Alamat
Borang Permohonan yang telah lengkap diisi hendaklah dikemukakan ke alamat berikut :
Ibu Pejabat
Jabatan Tenaga Kerja Semenanjung Malaysia
Aras 5, Blok D3, Parcel D
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62530 PUTRAJAYA
Pertanyaan
Sebarang pertanyaan boleh dikemukakan melalui talian 03-88889111 (Bahagian Perkhidmatan Pekerjaan)

Yeah, there are some similarities and also differences (allowance, duration, location of training among them) between the programs (bro Novinthen says its different scope and agenda). For me, its just some minor differences which can be streamlined. I hope the poor graduates are not confused on which to apply for. As it is, they graduated with much difficulty form IPTA/IPTS and under pressure from not securing a job. They may end up applying for all schemes, and create unnecessary paperwork for the staff. Maybe the ministry should think about consolidating the schemes. Maybe can save some money too. Saving money schemes (especially the ones that don’t involve price hikes -i used price hike because its shorter to type than the s-u-b-s-i-d-y  r-a-t-i-o-n-a-l-i-s-a-t-i-o-n  or  u-p-w-a-r-d  p-r-i-c-e  a-d-j-u-s-t-m-e-n-t ) would be liked by rakyat.

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90 days maternity leave by HSBC

July 2nd, 2010
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Hopefully this is a sign of more good news from both private and public sector!

The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) campaign for a 90-day paid maternity leave saw its first major success, with HSBC Bank Malaysia accepting the proposal.

NUBE secretary-general J Solomon hailed the achievement a “milestone” after signing an agreement with HSBC Bank Malaysia today. The bank was represented by its deputy chief executive officer, Jon Addis.

He told Bernama that the campaign on March 8 hoped to collect a million signatures by National Day.

It had, so far, garnered over 500,000 signatures, including that of the prime minister’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Solomon (left) said the longer maternity break would create a conducive environment for working mothers.

Addis said that previously, the bank had provided a 60-day paid maternity leave, adding that the additional 30 days would allow the mothers more time to care for and bond with their new-born.

Solomon hoped that more employers, not just those in the banking sector but others as well, would emulate this example.

NUBE represents 30,000 bank workers in the country.

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Minimum Wage plan postponed due to low blog feedback!

June 23rd, 2010
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I’m not sure if Malaysian Insider wrote this story correctly, because the answers just don’t seem to gel. Why did the blog generate only 77 response? You can try searching in MOHR website and let me know if can find any link to the blog because I certainly can’t find it. Maybe the blog is hidden somewhere? Found the blog here but the poll is closed!

Secondly, we are talking about minimum wage for “LOW INCOME” workers. Can a blog be the best to tool to gauge their response? Our broadband penetration still not over 40%, and people not really have MOHR website bookmarked.

Or is the blog meant for employers and the middle/high income employees to respond?

I think there should have been other ways to get response from target group. Could have paper-based survey during many of the goverment events like 1Malaysia youth program at Bukit Jalil, concerts, by-election areas, and so on. definitely would have got more than 77 replies.

They could have even talked to Income Tax department to include a survey when employees file their returns via e-filing in April. If just 30% of 1 million tax payers responded, you’ll get 300,000 responses!

Pity the security guards.

Despite strong calls from many quarters, including the MCA, the government announced today that it was shelving a minimum wage policy due to poor public feedback.

Human Resources deputy minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan told Parliament that the government had only received a total of 77 responses from the public since March this year.

“The ministry launched its blog on March 24 this year to obtain feedback from Malaysians on the proposal to introduce minimum wages.

“Until today, the ministry has only obtained 77 responses,” she said when replying to a question by Charles Santiago (DAP-Klang),

Maznah said that of the 77 responses, 70 or 91 per cent agreed with the proposal, about three per cent disagreed and 6 per cent were indifferent.

“The feedback is too small for us to implement the policy, especially in comparison with the over 11 million workers in the labour force nationwide.

“It is not representative of the number of workers,” she said.

She added that the ministry would continue with its blog to obtain more feedback as well as to organise a three-party workshop in mid-July this year involving workers’ associations, employers associations, academics and government agencies.

“Whatever feedback we obtain from the blog and the workshop will be used as input for the government’s consideration,” she said.

In a supplementary question, Charles slammed the ministry for deferring its decision to introduce minimum salaries for security personnel to 2011 although it was set to begin on July 1 this year.

“It is important for the nation. The government had decided to introduce the policy but suddenly, this was a retracted.

“This is like one step forward and three steps back. From what I have read from the news, I see that this shows that the government is afraid of the private sector, especially the security firms that have been urging the government not to introduce the policy,” he said.

Charles asked if the government had the “political will” to introduce minimum wages for the country, especially in view of the New Economic Model’s target of achieving a high-income status for the country.

In her response, Maznah said that the Cabinet had on January 13 this year instructed the ministry to study the proposal to introduce minimum wages.

“For your information, your accusation that we are frightened of the private sector and that we have no political will — this is just a perception typical of the opposition.

“The introduction of minimum wages involves many processes and many ministries. It involved the communication between the ministries and other important parties like the workers unions and other associations,” she said.

Maznah pointed out that a single policy could not be used for all sectors.

“We need to have a proper, detailed study, which would include making comparisons to other countries as well,” she said.

In another supplementary question, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (PAS-Kuala Selangor) asked Maznah for the ministry’s plans in improving the wages of the labour force.

“About 40 per cent of the labour force earn less than RM1,500 monthly and 75 per cent of them are the bumiputras from Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

Maznah said that the 10th Malaysia Plan programmes provide ways and means to improve the welfare of the labour force.

“We are also looking into ways and means on how to lessen our dependence on foreign labour as well as how to improve the skilled workers force.

“Our target is to raise our 25 per cent of skilled workers in the workforce to at least 50 per cent,” she said.

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