(Source: New Straits Times) KUALA LUMPUR, Thurs. Want a job ? Just walk into a shopping complex soon and enter your details into a computerised job application.
Under a novel concept to make job s easily accessible to professionals and graduates, the electronic labour exchanges (ELX) of the future may be sharing the floor with shops, hawker centres and restaurants.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn said the move was aimed at bringing together the unemployed and prospective jobs.
"By placing ELX in shopping complexes, we want to make it as convenient as possible for the unemployed to access job s locally or internationally," he told the New Straits Times.
Fong said more Malaysians could be finding job s overseas, with another six countries opening their job markets to the nation. China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Middle East and India have joined Dubai in offering job s to Malaysians.
Last December, Dubai offered jobs to Malaysians in companies there.
Fong said the decision would be implemented under the Ninth Malaysia Plan later this year.
"Once the 9MP is announced, we will make an allocation to rent the shoplots and provide the ELX facility immediately," he said.
ELX is currently available only at the labour department and over the Internet. ELX services in shoplots have proved successful in China and the UK.
"They will gain vast working experience and knowledge," he said. "The environment is good and competitiveness will make our graduates marketable."
Citing an example, Fong said 85 per cent of those working in Dubai were foreigners from around the world who were well paid.
"Malaysians are held in high regard in Dubai and I am sure those employed will be well paid too," he said,
All job vacancies in the seven countries are posted on the ministry's ELX. In the ELX system, he said, job matching would be done by computer.
"If the requirements match, an interview is arranged," he added.
A census by the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department in September revealed nearly 60,000 unemployed graduates in the country.
Many of them are female Malays from poor families who graduated from public universities in business studies or information technology on study loans from the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN).
Fong said Malaysian firms, especially those that undertook construction projects in some of these countries, were looking for experienced Malaysian engineers, accountants and site engineers.
"We also plan to do manual matching, as some of the applicants may not have the required years of experience in the field but have the qualifications," he added.
Citing an example, he said a company in Japan might seek an engineer with five years' experience and other requirements and qualifications.
"He may have only four years' experience but can meet all other requirements and qualifications. We will try to arrange an interview as he might stand a chance of getting the job after the interview," Fong said.
