Posted by We’re less than a month to welcoming a new year and we’ve seen a lot of major developments in the HR industry. Through the insights, be it about changes in salary trends, new HR policies, innovations, and growth in the workforce development – there’s so much to look forward to in the coming year.
We’ve compiled the top major HR news in 2017 so you’ll be ready for them in 2018!
Malaysia Budget 2018 (October)
On 27th October 2017, the Malaysia Budget 2018 was presented by YAB Dato’Sri Mohd Najib Bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, the Prime Minister of Malaysia who is also the Minister of Finance.
Amongst the major developments in HR that were presented include: improving civil servant benefits, preparations for Industry Revolution 4.0, support for women at work, driving TVE T(technical and vocational education training) employees, propelling graduate hires, promoting diversity at the workplace, support public or private businesses, closing the income gap, and changes in the income tax for workers. For more insights on the Malaysia Budget 2018, check out this link.
Retrenched Workers to Receive RM600 Cash Allowance Under EIS Effective January 2018 (December)
The offer for workers who got affected by lay-offs to receive temporary financial assistance. Over 57, 282 individuals are expected to be eligible to claim the interim benefit valued at more than RM103 million next year as stated by the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) Chief Executive Officer, Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed.
Training Scheme Introduced to Increase Malaysian Job Seekers (August)
First introduced in 2011, Skim Latihan 1Malaysia (1Malaysia Training Scheme/ SL1M) has reached out to over 126,000 job seekers across the nation to gain employment, since July this year. Over 100 companies managed to set up 110 booths during the two-day programme as a form of support to the scheme.
Various jobs were offered ranging from the banking, F&B, publishing, education, and the telecommunication sectors. The main purpose of the scheme itself is to assist in improving graduates’ potential to develop more employable talents while strengthening the country’s human capital.
Employee Engagement Trends 2017: Malaysia Scores Drop for the First Time in 4 Years (June)
Based on the 2017 Trends in Global Employee Engagement report from Aon, the leading global professional services firm, it was reported that a decline by 2 points to 59% in Malaysia happened last year for employee engagement levels.
The risk of losing good talents has started to increase and is a big indicator to organisations to step up their game in talent retention. It is also a precautionary step for companies to ensure all employees and their performances are not negatively affected due to workplace culture.
HRDF Introduce its Strategic Initiative to Building up Malaysia’s Workforce (March)
In an effort to contribute to the national human capital agenda, is this initiative. The initiative is funded by the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), government allocation and private partnerships in hopes of increasing up to 35% skilled Malaysian employees by the year 2020.
The collective effort seeks to achieve several objectives as well as reducing Malaysia’s dependency on foreign workers, increasing household income plus the national income per capita and reduce the nation’s unemployment rate.
GTMP Aims to Provide Over 200,00 Jobs for Malaysia’s Green Technology Sector (October)
The Green Technology Master Plan (GTMP) seeks to provide a foundation for a holistic shift in Malaysia’s direction to socioeconomic development while upholding the principles of sustainability. According to Minister Datuk Seri Maximus Johnity Ongkili, plans to improve all six major sectors in Malaysia includes energy, manufacturing, building, transport, waste and water.
With public and private sectors working hand-in-hand, the development will propel Malaysia’s position as the main runner in the global green movement in line with the Nation Transformation 2050 aspirations.
The Rise of Malaysia’s Gig Economy (November)
As technological advancement and the increasing expansion of digital platforms are on the rise, the lives of many employees have been made easier while freelancing. The share of self-employed individuals in urban Malaysia has shown an increase of 16% of the workforce in 2016, with those aged below 35 being the majority of increase between 2010 and 2016. The top online labour sectors in Malaysia are creative and multimedia, writing and translation, and software development and technology respectively.Â
Malaysians Opt to Remain Employed After Retirement (October)
A survey conducted by University of Malaya’s Social Security Research Centre (SSRC) showed that Malaysians are more inclined to stay employed above the age of 60 years old. It has been projected that the number of retired Malaysians will reach 3.5 million in 2020 and 6.3 million in 2040. This makes about 20% of the total population according to SSRC director, Professor Datuk Norma Mansor.
It was further discovered that ageing could negatively affect work performance. In which leads to how the country is prepared to meet the health and financial obligations in later life. To deal with the increasing number of ageing workforce, public and private sectors have to strategise on how they would deal with the changes such as allowing employees to upgrade their skills and undergo re-training if necessary.