KUALA LUMPUR: In this age of changing employment trends, multi-skill competency is crucial as added values are very much needed to become more competent and competitive especially soft skills such as communication, leadership and problem-solving.
This is where Yayasan Peneraju Pendidikan Bumiputra comes in with its "Train & Place" and "Place &Train" approach.
The foundation, through this approach, offers programmes that come with employment placement upon completion.
Yayasan Peneraju, an agency under the Ministry of Economy, also ensures employees will earn appropriate wages suited to their skills and certification which they acquire through their training with them.
It has focused on reskilling and upskilling since its inception in 2012.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Yayasan Peneraju has expanded the certifications offered in various fields, targeting school-leavers all the way up to working adults up to 45 years old.
"Surprisingly, during Covid-19 we thought that factories were laying off workers, because that's what we have been hearing, about the retrenchments and everything, but the truth is they're actually having a shortage of employees.
"The ones who were retrenched were maybe in administration and such, but not in the technical and operation side, where they need more workers, because no matter what, they still need workers to continue, unless they intend to close down," said Yayasan Peneraju chief executive officer Dr. Mohd Muzzammil Ismail in a recent interview.
Up to 2023, Yayasan Peneraju has realised more than 55,000 individuals through over 440 programmes nationwide.
According to Dr Muzzammil, Yayasan Peneraju reviewed and re-examined the financing programmes and courses offered every six months to remain relevant to the needs of the industry.
Its main objective is to improvethe quality, quantity and relevance of Bumiputra talents in line with effortsto develop Malaysia into a high-income nation through its structured academic, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), professional, technology and specialist funding programmes in various industries.
Other than focusing on functional and technical skills or technical know-how, Yayasan Peneraju emphasises its core module, the Nurture & Development Programme (NDP), where its scholarsare prepped with essential skills, including soft skills.
For example, he said Malindo's CEO had approached him about its need to retrench workers, mostly Bumiputra, and asked him for help.
So instead of retrenching them without anything to fall back on, Yayasan Peneraju took them in and helped upskill and reskill. Hence, a few hundred of them managed to gain new employment immediately.
In terms of requirements, it varies from programme to programme, but the most important thing is the candidates should know where their interest lies so they can get the proper assistance.
When asked if one could go into any field such as cybersecurity, Dr Muzammil elaborated that it was entirely possible, as long as one has the interest and motivation to pursue that field.
"First, you need to know where your interest lies, then you can go to our website to see what certification you need, and what level you can go for; if you have no basic, you can't go to the highest level but you can see what suits your current competency level and go for that first, then move up.
"That's why there's no single requirement for everyone — everyone has different backgrounds and interests, so you just have to find something for you," he said.
However, they will interview candidates first to make sure they're really capable of it, as they don't want to waste anybody's time and money.
To fulfill its objectives, Yayasan Peneraju partners up with big names such as AirAsia Academy, Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Sarawak (TEGAS), Kagumas Academy and Medi Wealth.
Unlike other similar education assistance programmes, Yayasan Peneraju not only assists its scholars to gain placement in companies, but it also follows up on them for up to two years to keep track of what they're doing and how they're performing, so they can ensure their goals have been met.
Last year, Yayasan Peneraju added 180 programmes to its belt, making a total of 440 programmes.
But this year, Dr Muzzammil said it would focus more on quality rather than quantity.
He said Yayasan Peneraju'sgoal is not only to provide quality education opportunities to Bumiputera, but to ensure that they actually get a job after completing the programme.
"We don't want the beneficiaries to remain unemployed after completing the programme. So far, most of our beneficiaries have found work while they are still following the program, and some are even highly paid," he said.
Yayasan Peneraju also provides international certification opportunities for high-income careers and transforms the ability of Bumiputeras towards generating high-income jobs.
Dr Muzzammil said through the 'Nurturing& Developing' approach, soft skills were applied in preparation for participants to step into the world of work, as these skills are seen to belacking among Bumiputeras due to several factors which include environmental factors.
"In addition to following courses to improve skills and expertise, participants are equipped with coursesin leadership, crisis management, critical thinking, problem solving and so on.
"We don't want those who follow programme to just become blue-collar workers, we want them to hold top management positions as well. With career advancement, it will contribute to increased income," he said.
On current job trends, Mohd Muzzammil said careers related to cyber security, cloud computing,robotics, highly skilled TVET and a variety of skills were currently in high demand.
He said today's job market had changed after the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
"Now, digital applications are a necessity and the demand for cyber security, data is very high. In fact, in the manufacturingsector too, people have started talking about robotics and so on," he said.
Yayasan Peneraju also helps empower marginalised groups through its Inisiatif Mampan Paduan & Anjakan Kapasiti (IMPAK).
IMPAK was developed and designed to look at how it can empower marginalised groups - which include B40, orang Asli, disabled people and single mothers, among others - through its upskilling and reskilling programmes.
So far, more than 2,500 beneficiaries under the IMPAK initiative of Yayasan Peneraju with more than 20 programmes carried out.
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