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13 December, 2010
A tall order to reinforce talent pool
(source : businesstimes.com.sg)
LAUNCHED last week, Malaysia's Talent Corporation has been tasked with reinforcing the talent pool in key sectors so that the country can achieve its target of high income status by 2020.
It will be no easy task, with Malaysian media already acknowledging that the agency will have its work cut out reversing, or even stemming, the enormous brain drain.
In a bid to attract human capital, foreign skilled workers who have given up their citizenship can opt to live and work in the country under a new 'resident pass' programme which will be introduced next April. Pass-holders need not be tied to an employer to remain in the country.
This measure is laudable and obviously more incentives will be introduced along the way. What is clear is that swift and drastic steps need to be taken if Malaysia is to reverse the cycle of decline which has resulted in increasing migration and the loss of some of its most educated and valuable people.
More than 700,000 skilled Malaysians work overseas, contributing their talents and productivity to other nations, while on the local scene, only four out of five employees have been educated up to high school.
Partly owing to low levels of research and development and private investments, expatriate numbers have halved over the past decade to about 45,000, while the number of low-skilled foreign labour has grown over the same period to a million plus, with perhaps an equal number of illegal workers.
Corporations have pointed out that the warped environment means it is far easier for them to employ a low-skilled foreign worker than a skilled one such as an accountant, given that more are opting for 'greener pastures'.
While Malaysia might be attractive to retirees - it is apparently the top choice for the Japanese - the highly skilled find it less appealing given the lack of innovation and exposure to cutting-edge sectors.
Over the decades, many educated Malaysians have chosen to work abroad for economic, political and social reasons, including what they perceive as a lack of meritocracy and discriminatory policies, which favours the Malays.
But Malay professionals have also begun to opt out in sufficient numbers to alarm the authorities. Indeed, many of those on government scholarships overseas prefer to stay on rather than return to serve because of greater employment opportunities and fatter salaries.
A number fear being confined to mundane positions and the under-utilisation of their talents - a point perhaps validated by the fact that over the past decade, many of the same faces have been rotated around government-linked companies.
Previous programmes aimed at luring talent back have failed abysmally, only attracting a handful. Even then some of those who returned maintain they have languished for months without employment in their fields of expertise because there was no follow-up or coordination.
Prime Minister Najib Razak acknowledged that Talent Corp cannot do it alone. 'Talent issues are broad and complex, so these goals cannot be achieved by a single agency,' he observed at the launch.
However, unless the lack of coordination among government agencies is addressed, policy directives will remain just that, leading to frustration at all levels.
'There seems to be a lack of clear guidelines and protocols for approvals; often we are at the mercy of the attending immigration officers and their interpretation of the law and policy, which differs from Putrajaya to Pusat Damansara!' wrote 'a very frustrated foreign spouse' after she was given the run-around in spite of a government proposal to expedite the permanent residence status of foreign spouses to spare them the annual hassle of renewing their passes.
Over the past year, Mr Najib has unveiled programmes to transform the public service and economy. Much hinges on a streamlined and committed public service. Malaysia is unfortunately reaping the consequences of poor policies and implementation in the past. A better harvest in the coming years is only possible if Talent Corp receives the support of all the relevant agencies and starts to sow the right seeds.
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