KOTA KINABALU: The 1Malaysia Training Scheme (SL1M) is expected to help 25,000 young people nationwide seek employment next year, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
“This programme is close to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s heart, who has approved RM40 million for SL1M to be continued next year.
“Since the inception of SL1M in 2011, 140,000 people have benefited from the programme,” he said at the recent open job interview in Institute Latihan Perindustrian Sepanggar near here.
SL1M is a programme under the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department. It aims to build human capital and boost the employability of graduates by matching them as trainees in participating companies.
The SL1M open job interview was organised in the state for the second time this year, and was the final roadshow for the year.
Thousands of job seekers registered for the event online, which facilitated their matching to suitable positions based on their skills and qualifications.
Rahman described SL1M as a win-win platform for job seekers, participating employers, and even the government.
“It is a platform where companies and people meet each other in a conducive and professional environment.
“Participating companies, such as Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), Maybank and Borneo Highway PDP Sdn Bhd, among others, are also training young people to become quality workers in terms of aptitude,” he said,
There were 32 companies that took part in the open job interview.
It has been made mandatory for companies awarded with government contracts to set aside one per cent of their contract value to implement SL1M at their respective establishments. The allocation, which also entitled those companies for double tax deduction for a year, is to be used for training and grooming the trainees.
Rahman said SL1M was a government initiative to help the people cope with the rising cost of living by reducing unemployment.
“People often talk about the increase in the price of goods although it is inevitable.
“Besides keeping prices under control, the government is also tackling the other side of the equation by ensuring that people have high-income jobs.”
In Sabah, he cited tourism as a major pillar that contributed significantly to the state’s economic growth. Therefore, SL1M would be putting more focus on training tour guides and producing graduates in the hospitality sector.
He said in the agriculture and construction sectors, employers were still hiring foreign workers because of cheaper labour cost.
“The government, business owners and people at large should do something about the hiring of foreign workers, or else we will be endlessly depending on them.”
SL1M secretariat head Norashikin Ismail said the programme would be working with Jobs Malaysia to reach out to universities and raise awareness on the employment market.
The programme, which was also the eighth for this year, received a good response from the public.
“We estimated around 10,000 visitors came and we have people coming as early as 6am. There are about 2,000 job openings on offer.”
Besides the job interviews, the programme also included motivational and career talks, celebrity performances, lucky draws and an opportunity for traders to earn income. The organisers would also help job seekers in the state to travel to Peninsular Malaysia if they secured training offers there.
Noah Lujain, 30, from the state capital, said it was his second time hunting for jobs.
“SL1M is a good platform for graduates like me to look for jobs, which are related to architecture or engineering.
“I am also hoping that the programme will offer internship or training for those with lower qualifications, such as certificate holders,” said the hopeful, who is currently self-employed.