FROM Housing, Local Government, Town and Country Planning, Deputy Chief Minister II Jagdeep Singh Deo has now set his sights on addressing the talent issues in the state to meet the rapid evolvement of various industries, particularly the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector.
He currently helms the Human Capital Development, Science and Technology portfolio.
Jagdeep said the growing interest among many multinational companies to invest here in Penang has resulted in the need for the state to equip its workforce with sufficient, eligible and industry-ready experts.
“As we all know, Penang has steadily been growing into an international hub considering the state’s ability to actively attract large investments from top, multinational companies.
“When this happens, it is essential we have an effective and sufficient workforce to support the operations in these companies.
“Talent shortage in the TVET sector has been an issue for us, and for a start, my office will be collaborating with all the relevant agencies in the state to plan and execute a blueprint that will serve as an enabler to address this matter,” Jagdeep told a press conference at his office in Komtar today.
When asked about the need to have more training centres like the Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC) in the state, Jagdeep said it was important to first have qualified trainers who would be vital to support a new training centre.
Meanwhile, PSDC chief executive officer E.T. Tan said while the talent pipeline remains an issue, the other concern is that many Penangites, especially the younger ones, are not aware of some of the best technologies that are being used in Penang.
“Why are the people here not interested in technology-based work? It is because they do not know about some of the advanced technologies we have here.
“At PSDC, we work very closely with various industries, and we will continue to do what we do to ensure the issue of talent is addressed and hope more people will come to know about the technologies here,” Tan said.
Also present was InvestPenang chief executive officer Datuk Loo Lee Lian, who said that Penang is now focused on building a pipeline of 7,000 to 10,000 individuals with technical skills in the next three to five years.
In a related development, when asked about funding for future initiatives, Chief Minister Incorporated (CMI) general manager Datin S. Bharathi said apart from just being funded by the state government, Federal Government and the relevant agencies, industries will also be absorbed to support the programmes.
“The state government allocates grants to three key bodies, namely PSC, Tech Dome Penang and Penang STEM annually to implement programmes.
“Many industries have also in the past assisted in numerous educational programmes, and PSC also receives funds from international companies.
“So, funding is always there but we would like to encourage more industry players to enter the scene and assist us as much as they could in areas deemed fit for them,” Bharathi added.
Story by Kevin Vimal
Pix by Siew Chia En