Photo: Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: Over 3,000 women have returned to the workforce through the Career Comeback Programme, says Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.
"The programme was implemented in 2015 to encourage women professionals who left work to return to their careers.
"As of September this year, a total of 3,255 women took part in Career Comeback workshops and seminars involving 335 companies which offered employment to those interested in returning to work," he told Shaharizukirnain Abd Kadir (PN-Setiu) in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Oct 31).
Besides this, Sivakumar said a total of 1,109 companies have also implemented the Work-Life Practices (WLP) initiative between 2015 and September this year.
He said WLP is targeted at young professionals to encourage them to remain in the workforce by striking a balance between their family and work life.
He added that the Social Security Organisation (Socso) had, through MyFutureJobs, organised 39 programmes between January and October to upskill women and improve their marketability in the workforce.
"A total of 1,325 women participated in the programmes.
"Of this number, 222 were successfully employed while 526 qualified for a second interview," he said.
Sivakumar also said there was currently no policy making it mandatory for private companies to set up daycare facilities.
He said the private sector is only encouraged to do so and this had been received well by several industries.
Shaharizukirnain said private companies should set up daycare facilities at their respective offices or nearby, to encourage women to return to the workforce.
