Skills training key to labour reform vision, says Sim

Sharing his thoughts: Sim speaking at the Human Resources Development Corp National Training Week (NTW) 2025 event in Klang. — KK SHAM/The Star
KLANG: The vision for national labour market reforms includes improving the welfare of workers, and enhancing their skills and productivity, says the Human Resources Minister.
With this in mind, Steven Sim said RM10bil was set aside annually for skills education, proving the government's commitment to prioritising extensive skills training.
'We want to familiarise Malaysians with skills training by making it a culture and a trend, and making it mainstream,'' he said at a Human Resources Development Corp National Training Week (NTW) 2025 event held here yesterday.
Sim said this year's NTW, which targeted one million Malaysians, exceeded the target by training double the figure within the week-long period.
He said although the training duration was short-term, the outcome had a strong impact on upskilling the participants.
'Studies have shown that over 35% of employers are recognising short-term courses when evaluating potential employees,' he added.
Sim said bosses wanted to increase profits and workers wanted higher wages, adding that the conduit to realising both aims was higher productivity.
'And to achieve higher productivity, our workers must have better skills,' he added.
The event yesterday, Logistics Unboxed: Empowering Workforce Beyond Borders, was aimed at empowering the logistics sector through accessible and inclusive skills training and learning.
Sim described the sector as society's 'circulatory system', with shipping lanes, rail tracks, highways and distribution centres being the 'main arteries' and the final delivery system and network being the 'capillaries'.
'You can eat good nutrients and the best food in the world, but if your arteries and capillaries are clogged, your overall health will be affected.
'So even if we have the highest efficiency and technologies in production, if our logistics network is clogged, then society will be affected,' he pointed out.
The minister said this was a lesson learnt during the Covid-19 pandemic when logistical delays caused backlogs with shipping containers being stuck globally, with the local shipping industry faced with various challenges.
Elaborating on the logistics industry, Sim said like most modern services, the workers were rather 'invisible', adding that behind the tools, machines and vehicles, hundreds of thousands of workers kept everything running smoothly.
'We cannot just think about improving the equipment without also improving the work conditions and skills of these logistics workers,' he said.

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