Education policies and competitive salary are key to retaining talent and preventing brain drain.
PRACTICAL measures such as having strong education policies and competitive salary are key to retaining talent and preventing brain drain.
Johor investment, trade, consumer affairs and human resource committee chairman Lee Ting Han said besides encouraging more youths to pursue technical and vocational skill training, the courses need to be improved to suit the changing trends.
“It is part of the state government’s short and medium-term objective to integrate training institutions under different departments and encourage more youths to pursue vocational training.
“We will also use data analytics to determine the suitable intervention methods, including designing a curriculum that meets industry needs,” he told StarMetro.
Lee said the provision of training alone was not enough to retain talent in the country as other factors such as salaries, living and working environments, career development opportunities and job promotion were equally important.
He said a nation’s compe- titiveness and progress could not be separated from talent development.
“Singapore, as a country that lacks natural resources, could excel in various global indicators because of one ingredient, which is talent,” he said.
Johor, compared to its neighbour, differed significantly in terms of cost of doing business and this had become a pull factor for foreign companies to invest in the state, he added.
“However, if our target is to attract high-tech multinational companies, operational efficiency in an effective environment will become the top main consideration, not just costs alone.
“Then comes the question of whether Johor has the right talents to support such economic activities like innovation and research, infrastructure development planning, and effective governance,” said Lee.
“In the ongoing discussions about the establishment of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, both sides have agreed that talent and skill development were vital, especially when creating high-quality job opportunities was one of the main objectives of the initiative.”
He said present national policies should also be reviewed to tackle the issue of brain drain.
Presently, he said, the state government would offer incentives by taking into consideration whether the company provided high-paying jobs for locals.
“At the same time, the high currency exchange rate (in Singapore), poses a major challenge in retaining talents.”
Lee also said the recent announcement of Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) results and matriculation placements had “opened up old wounds”, whereby school-leavers voiced their displeasure about being overlooked despite scoring excellent results.
“We have to realise the impact that such rejections have on those with excellent SPM results.”
He said the Federal Government should come up with a concrete solution to handle the systemic issue and implement it to prevent the recurrence of such issues and stem the brain drain.
