JOHOR SETTING NEW STANDARDS WITH PREMIUM WAGES FOR SKILLED TALENT - AHMAD ZAHID

JOHOR BAHRU, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- The establishment of the Johor Talent Development Council (JTDC), launched today, makes Johor the first state in the country to have one, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Minister of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW), said the Johor State Government’s initiative to establish JTDC was a strategic step in developing a skilled workforce ecosystem in the state.

He stated that the JTDC would continue to strengthen the ecosystem for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and provide opportunities for high-skilled careers, thereby implementing premium wages in the state, particularly in the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ).

“We see that job opportunities in Johor face competition (with Singapore)…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 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 said this during the launching of JTDC and the Career Carnival at a convention centre here, today.

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.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also the chairman of the National TVET Committee, said there were currently 100,000 job opportunities in Johor, with 74,000 of them being high-skilled positions in JS-SEZ, of which only 52,000 jobs had been filled.

Meanwhile, Onn Hafiz said that JTDC would realign all educational and training courses in the state to meet industry demands and expand partnerships with industries and higher education institutions (IPTs) in research, equipment provision, and expertise sharing.

Additionally, he said that JTDC also aimed to increase direct career placement schemes and industrial training (place and train) and hoped that IPTs in the state would offer demand-driven rather than supply-driven courses.

The three-day career carnival, running from Friday to today, was organised by the Ministry of Human Resources (KESUMA) through the Social Security Organisation (Socso) in collaboration with the Johor State Government, offering 15,000 job opportunities.

-- BERNAMA