Ensuring grads have employability skill

Rachel Thien
BANDAR SERI BEGAWANRELEVANT stakeholders and government agencies must work together in addressing unemployment in Brunei by looking   at both the supply and demand aspects of it, the executive director of the Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS) said.

Dato Dr Hj Ismail Hj Duraman, in an exclusive interview with The Brunei Times, said there was no point for school leavers or graduates who possessed skills and training to come out into the job market if they were not able tp get employment.
"The absorptive capacity needs to be there, and we need more employment. So this is a policy issue, which must be catered to helping them all the way. Currently, the  mentality and mindsets of most of our people are looking at jobs in the government. They know the government provides more benefits, but at the same time, the private sector also can still contribute,'' he said.

Dato Dr Hj Ismail said PPP (Private-public partnership) was one way out of the unemployment issue, where the two sectors (government and private) could work together.

The expert said Brunei needed to look at "the other side of the coin'', where something needed to be done on the demand side (employer), in terms of the capability of absorbing the job seekers.ntsato work.

"The problem is that the economy does not seem to be giving much drive for the SMEs and the private sector, to take these people in large quantities,'' he said.

He went on to say that in many countries, the private sector was large enough to absorb these people at all levels, whether they were `O' level, `A' level, HND (Higher National Diploma) graduates, so there was more room for them to manoeuvre.

"But in our case, we have a very small private sector. They cannot just take anybody they like, because there is a cost involved. So how can we create opportunities in this case? We need to look into the macro aspect,'' he said.

Dato Dr Hj Ismail cited a study that CSPS was currently undertaking involving alternative energy.
"We are thinking about the long-term if the oil is no longer our main economic backbone, then how can we help the industries to develop and grow? So alternative energy is one of the answers. On the other hand, we are also looking at the land, and whether we are really serious in converting the land for industrial locations.''

He noted it was good the country is preserving its land through the Heart of Borneo initiative. "That is why we want to optimise the available land we have.''

"We want to make Brunei, if possible, a country that can produce exports. We can also invite foreign direct investors to come, as the land can be useful for commodities. When there are industries available, this is called the absorptive capacity. With these industries, we want these type of people to be employed there. So the opportunities are there,'' he said.


The expert said if the country could attract a multinational company to come in, then hopefully it will  become a leading sector, and  benefit Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as the same time.


"This is where the SMEs can assist by performing small works for the multinational. This will helpthe SMEs  to flourish and grow. It is not impossible to do this. With the right policy and if everybody works together, then we can together build the future of the country,'' he said.

Dato Dr Hj Ismail said itmight not be easy for policy makers to buy what they were saying, but once CSPS comes up with recommendations these could be formed for the good of the country.

"We want CSPS to come up with a driving force to meet industries coming into this country, on a suitable land, to create more jobs for people to work in. If this is done, it needs to be supported by all stakeholders. So CSPS is looking into the macro aspect, linking the 2035 vision,'' he said.

The expert noted for this to be done, policies needed to be conducive to making it happen quickly.

"The relevant stakeholders or government agencies have to work together and look into this matter, not only on the supply side but also the demand side,'' he said.

Dato Dr Hj Ismail also said the country needed to focus on graduate unemployment, as unemployment was becoming a "very hot topic'' among many people who said it could lead to them falling into poverty.

"There are initiatives made by various stakeholders, especially  the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, where they help these people through micro-credits. But these people need to have good positive attitudes and be able to contribute to the society and nation-building,'' he said.

The executive director said it was concerning  that there was unemployment among many school leavers nowadays. "When I look at it, graduates from year to year, there are many of them who are coming out with Masters and PhDs. My concern now is this. We recently advertised for a posting at CSPS, where the requirement was that the graduate has to hold a Masters degree. There were a number of people that applied for it, but we could only provide the post to one or two at most,'' he explained.

``There were so many applicants, and this means the demand and supply is not balanced. Although this is normal in many cases, and if you do not do something about it, the economy cannot absorb people coming out in the labour market, and if the economy cannot make any good opportunities to create employment, then this is going to become a serious problem,'' he added.

Dato Dr Hj Ismail said if policies were not set to help these people, then at the end of the day, they will end up unemployed and it will take them a long time to get a job.

He underscored that especially for families who were unemployed, social problems could arise if they were unable to find a job.
The Brunei Times