Lyna Mohamad
The EmployAbility programme was coined by Brunei LNG Sdn Bhd Managing Director and CEO Hajah Farida binti Dato Seri Paduka Haji Talib as the initiative to increase employment as well as nurture the ability, skills and competence of the local workforce through capacity building.
A Brunei LNG Social Investment Flagship Programme, EmployAbility was launched alongside Pilot Apprenticeship Programme officiated by Legislative Council member Yang Berhormat Ar Siti Rozaimeriyanty binti Dato Seri Laila Jasa Haji Abdul Rahman at the Radisson Hotel in the capital yesterday.
Yang Berhormat Siti Rozaimeriyanty said Brunei LNG was among the first company from ASEAN to support Harnessing Impact with Resilient Employability Digitally (HIRED) launched last year, a project that serves to address unemployment issues and on how ASEAN lags behind in upskilling and reskilling.
She said there is an urgent need to upskill and reskill the people as studies have shown that 59 per cent of youth in ASEAN lack industry skills.
Meanwhile, Hajah Farida said it gave her great pride to create a long-term vision of capable and employable Bruneians with Brunei LNG and its business partners to address manpower constraints brought on by COVID-19 and to grow the timber of skilled Bruneians. “This marks another milestone in our joint efforts to strengthen local Bruneian employment and capability, while helping to realise Brunei Vision 2035 of a highly skilled workforce and as part of Brunei LNG’s duty to the nation.”
She said based on the 2020 Labour Force Survey, the country has a 7.4-per-cent unemployment rate, which totals to 17,354 citizens, due to a number of reasons including mismatch of skills, lack of experience, and salary expectations.
EmployAbility is a social investment flagship under Hajah Farida sponsorship as Brunei LNG Managing Director and CEO, and will build a sustainable local workforce to replace foreign workers; contribute to lowering national unemployment and provide upskilling and reskilling of available jobseekers through training and coaching to local workforce including students who will join the workforce, fresh school leavers or graduates looking for a job and those who are already employed but want to be upskilled and reskilled.
The local personnel agreement (LPA), which aims to identify, build, and hire a skilled worker pipeline by building a sustainable local workforce that contributes to lowering national unemployment by reskilling and upskilling of jobseekers through training and coaching, is the first initiative under EmployAbility.
Brunei LNG signed the agreement with four business partners – Adinin Works and Engineering Sdn Bhd (AWE), Tendrill International Sdn Bhd, Zainal Daud Sdn Bhd and Exceltech Solutions Sdn Bhd in July last year under the Pilot Apprenticeship Programme – the second initiative under EmployAbility.
Qualified personnel from the four business partners will undergo training, fully sponsored by Brunei LNG using the Lifelong Learning Centre (3C) programme under the Manpower Industry Steering Committee Working Group (MISC WG) for Energy – iSkill’s Industry Skill Certification (ISC), in collaboration with Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE) as the awarding organisation for the programme.
Yesterday’s launch also celebrated the first set of eight personnel from AWE who will start their in-service training at a registered training organisation for three months followed by four months of on-the-job training at AWE.
Trainees will be assessed by registered independent assessors to get accredited certification, which will close the gap in the mismatch of supply and demand of skills and increase their marketability.
Brunei LNG will also partner with HIRED, Manpower Planning and Employment Council (MPEC), MISC, JobCentre Brunei and other stakeholders to build a capable and highly skilled local workforce.
Brunei LNG Human Resources, External Relations, Real Estate and Facilities Manager, and Brunei LNG representative of HIRED and MPEC Mizan Adillah binti Haji Mohamad Deli said, “Once the Pilot Apprenticeship Programme has matured, further pilots will be rolled out involving students and industry placements.”
