Sivakumar's a year in review as Human Resource Minister

SHAH ALAM - V Sivakumar has served as the Human Resource Minister in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim since Dec 2022

He has been in politics for 25 years and has held the Batu Gajah parliamentary seat since 2013.

As the Human Resources Minister, Sivakumar has introduced many great programmes which benefited the rakyat namely National Training Index (NTI) to boost Malaysia's workforce, TVET programmes

Sivakumar also focuses on boosting Malaysia's workforce, reducing reliance on foreign workers, and developing a National Human Resources Policy that covers workers' health and safety, including mental health, are some of the initiatives that he has introduced so far.

Here are some of the achievements Sivakumar has unlocked so far:

1. National Training Index (NTI)

Sivakumar has introduced NTI to boost Malaysia's workforce.

He said that the insights garnered from the NTI will help his ministry formulate policies and implement initiatives that will benefit the workforce.

2. TVET programme in automative field

The Human Resource Ministry actively conducts joint ventures with the industry and stakeholders related to the Government's measures and preparations to develop a skilled workforce, especially in the automotive-related field.

3. HRD Corp records RM1.809bil in levy collection in 2022, doubling the collection in 2021.

Over 1.497 million training places were recorded in 2022, a 164 per cent increase from the previous year.

The number of employers registered with HRD Corp also increased to 81,706 in 2022, covering more than 4,383 million employees, an increase of 21.72 per cent from the previous year.

Sivakumar said HRD Corp would continue playing a pivotal role in driving Malaysia’s human capital excellence for decades to come.

4. Developing National Human Resources Policy

Sivakumar said his ministry aimed to develop a National Human Resources Policy that would also cover workers' health and safety as well as the aspect of mental health at workplace.

He said developing this policy was important as mental health issues form the second biggest health problems in Malaysia after heart disease, therefore intervention steps are much needed to address this issue.

5. Career Comeback Programme

Over 3,000 women have returned to the workforce through the Career Comeback Programme.

Sivakumar said that the Social Security Organisation (Socso) had, through MyFutureJobs, organised 39 programmes between Jan and Oct to upskill women and improve their marketability in the workforce.