In the Southeast Asia region, Malaysia is seen as one of the popular destinations for migrant workers to get a job, especially for those with little or no skills. Like other countries, most businesses in Malaysia have a strong dependency on these migrant workers mainly because of the modernisation aspect and the lack of workforce in the employment sector. With the ongoing MCO / CMCO movement, and seeing spikes of COVID-19 cases, Manforce Group Berhad, one of the leading foreign worker solutions providers in Malaysia is gearing to elevate and recharge Malaysia’s workforce and economy again by building up local young workforce through their initiative, Malaysians Development Uplift Programme (MDUP).
Launched in February 2020, the programme intends to empower young Malaysians with the necessary skills of learning, life and work; enhancing sustainable growth with skilled workforce through basic industrial training, at the same time ensuring that young Malaysians fully understand and exceed the expectations of employers. Manforce Group together with its partners such as manufacturing companies Maxter Glove, Panasonic, George Kent and among others are all in this together to provide employment to these students upon their graduation of this 6-months programme.
Dato’ Paul Wong Boon Ming, Group Managing Director of Manforce Group Berhad said that this programme is not only beneficial to the nation or the various industries, but also for the individuals involved in this programme. Seeing a huge potential in empowering the local workforce and its benefits for the employers, Manforce Group is fuelling dedicated youths the actual industrial training and job opportunities, where this will elevate and foster economic development, and build up confidence in Malaysia’s countrymen again.
“The freeze intake of migrant workers since early 2020 somewhat, beneficial to Malaysia as a whole, as it reduces the number of foreign workers in our country and gives locals the priority in securing employment. The large presence of foreign workers in the country will make it difficult for locals, especially youths, to get employed. Hence, we came up with MDUP as the appropriate solution to encourage Malaysian companies to stronghold the local workforce and help the growth of the country’s economy,” explained Dato’ Paul during the convocation of the first batch graduates from MDUP.
The programme is targeted for those aged 18 to 30 who may be school leavers, unable to continue their studies due to lack of money, unemployed / jobless, or the B40 group from rural areas with limited employment opportunities. Manforce Group sponsored these individuals to participate in a 6-months practical training course complete with allowances, accommodations, and a certificate to certify the completion of the training course fully certified by School of Professional and Continuing Education (UTMSPACE) and ProCel Faculty Economy and Business UNIMAS.
Manforce Group has successfully trained up their first batch of graduates as of March 2021, with 70% of the graduates deciding to kickstart their career in manufacturing companies, while the rest chose to further their studies. Of all the candidates being recruited in this programme, majority (63%) of the candidates are from the East Coast (mainly Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang), while the others are from the West Coast.
“We have trained more than 70 graduates from MDUP since its inception in 2020, and we are confident that these are well-trained and possessed the drive to enter the industry as they have undergone 1,500 hours or 6-months of training courses throughout the programme – making them eager to putting their skills and training to good use, “Dato Paul elaborated.
“Getting hands-on experience in one’s desired future career can be a huge plus. While being a diploma or degree holder is not essential for a general worker, however what we hope to witness is that these well-developed skills and knowledge they attained can help them to integrate quickly into the workplace – to obtain employment with better job security and remuneration in the organisation, at the same time, to become financially independent or to be able to support their families financially.”
Acknowledging health concerns from candidates due to the spike in COVID-19 cases especially in the Klang Valley, some of the usual classroom training and interviews are undertaken remotely and on digital platforms such as Zoom; Manforce Group will then proceed to transfer the candidates straight to the actual workplace upon the completion of training courses.
Currently, the programme is now covering approximately 350 candidates and is on the road to create 5,000 job opportunities for Malaysians by the end of 2022. For more information of this initiative, please visit https://www.manforce.net/.
