PUTRAJAYA: Women who have taken a career break to care for their families now have a chance to come back to the workforce through the “Empowering Women in Cyber Risk Management Programme”.
Offered by Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Sdn Bhd (MDEC), the programme is aimed at encouraging and bringing back women to the workforce, in the field of cyber risk management.
The programme is also jointly organised by Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, Communications and Multimedia Ministry, National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA) and TalentCorp.
Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh said a three-month internship programme would be offered to successful applicants to improve and increase their knowledge in cyber security before re-entering the workforce.
“Women comprise half of the total population in the country, but only some 54 per cent are in the labour force.
“With programmes such as this, we hope to encourage more women who left their previous jobs for various reasons, to come to the workforce.
“It is also projected that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country would increase from RM6 billion to RM9 billion with women coming back to their careers,” she told reporters after the launch of the programme.
Yeoh said, in the past, 820 women had returned to the workforce, joining 323 employers through the “Career Comeback Programme” (CCP) by TalentCorp.
She gave her assurances that participating companies would also ensure an easy transition back to the workforce with flexible working hours and childcare, among others, for these women.
Yeoh added that the main objective of the programme was to fill local female talents in the field, to offer a stable ecosystem for women after returning to the workforce, including attractive and high remuneration packages, as well as to promote and build new ideas.
MDEC chief executive officer Surina Shukri said the programme, which would start from January next year, has already opened up registration for interested candidates.
“Their applications will go through a vetting process before they are informed whether they qualified or not. For the pioneer project, we are looking to train 50 candidates first. However, we will be expanding the number as it goes,” she added.
Surina said the programme was open to Malaysian women who had left the workforce for at least six months and had at least three years experience in the corporate sector.
She said applicants need not have computer or information technology knowledge.
“There are many types jobs within the cyber risk management industry. Future employers will later decide what is suitable for the candidates,” she added.