Better quality workers needed

Dr Ramakrishnan (second from right) speaking with one of the local workers at the Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast gift shop during his visit to Desaru Coast Malaysia.

KOTA TINGGI: Local workers need to toughen up and be less sensitive to survive and thrive in the local job market, said Johor Consumerism Human Resources and Unity Committee chairman Dr S. Ramakrishnan.

He said he has received reports from employers complaining that local workers are too soft and unable to handle pressure, with many quitting their jobs despite earning good salaries.

“Some of them even resigned due to petty issues such as working late hours or seeing their colleagues getting a pay raise or being passed over for promotions,” he added.

Dr Ramakrishnan was speaking to reporters after conducting a working visit to Desaru Coast Malaysia here.

He said the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Industrial Training Institute (ILP) should beef up the personality and mentality of local workers to make them better able to meet the demands of industry.

Dr Ramakrishnan said he had met up with the TVET and ILP institutions and urged them to make changes in their programmes to produce a better quality workforce.

“I have told them not to focus solely on developing skills but also develop the students’ personality and mentality to face any possible situations in the working environment.

“This issue is huge and these skills should be imbued in our future workers even at their secondary educational stage,” he said.

Meanwhile, on his visit, Dr Ramakrishnan said that there was a huge gap of manpower needed at the Desaru Coast Malaysia especially in fields that require certain specific skills and services.

He added that there were currently 720 vacant positions at the place that was waiting to be filled up by the local.

“Desaru Coast Malaysia requires at least 1,800 people to operate but currently there are only 1,080 employees available, with 56% of them from Johor, especially within the surrounding areas in Kota Tinggi.

“Priority is given to the locals staying near the location but the problem we are facing now is the lack of qualified and certified manpower to fill up this vacancy,” he said.

Dr Ramakrishnan added that he would meet up with the relevant authorities, agencies and the Human Resource Ministry to figure out a way to make sure that these jobs were filled immediately.

“The state does not want to depend on foreign workers so one of the immediate actions that we have taken right now is training interested locals here. It may take some time but at least it will give the opportunity to our people,” he said.