The establishment of the Johor Talent Development Council (JTDC) will make Johor the first state in the country to have one, according to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Minister of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW), stated that the Johor State Government’s plan to establish JTDC was a strategic step towards expanding the state’s skilled workforce ecosystem.
He noted that the JTDC would continue to develop the environment for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and give possibilities for high-skilled employment, resulting in premium pay throughout the state, notably in the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ).
“We see that job opportunities in Johor face competition (with Singapore) where the minimum wage in Malaysia is RM1,700, while the minimum wage in Singapore is 1,500 Singapore dollars, equivalent to RM5,290.
“Therefore, what the Johor State Government is doing is to ensure premium wages of RM4,000 for diploma holders and RM5,000 for those with the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) equivalent to a degree, I must acknowledge that no other state has done this so far, only Johor,” he said.
He made this statement during the Career Carnival and JTDC launch.
Also present were Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir, and Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad.
There are currently 100,000 job openings in Johor, with 74,000 of them being high-skilled positions in JS-SEZ, but only 52,000 of them have been filled, according to Ahmad Zahid, the chairman of the National TVET Committee.
Onn Hafiz, in the meantime, stated that JTDC would expand collaborations with industries and higher education institutions (IPTS) in research, equipment provision, and expertise sharing, as well as realign all educational and training programmes in the state to satisfy industry demands.
He added that JTDC hoped that IPTs in the state would provide demand-driven courses rather than supply-driven ones and that it also sought to expand direct career placement programmes and industrial training (place and train).
With 15,000 job openings, the three-day career carnival was organised by the Ministry of Human Resources (KESUMA) in partnership with the Johor State Government through the Social Security Organisation (Socso). It took place from Friday to Sunday.
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