TalentCorp Organises Career Comeback Fair To Attract Women Back To Workforce
The third Career Comeback Fair organised by TalentCorp was held recently, aiming to woo women on a career hiatus back into the workforce. The fair was made a success with the participation of almost 300 job-seeking women and more than 20 employers offering over 200 full-time and flexible job opportunities.
This year’s career fair featured employers from a range of industries, from Global Business Services (GBS) and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) to construction and Electrical & Electronics (E&E).
The event was supported by the Corporate Development Centre (CDC) who led CV clinics offering advice and suggestions on updating a CV following a career break.
Participants also had the opportunity to network with HR experts and learn from women who have successfully returned to the workforce.
The fair is part of a programme by the government to increase the country’s Female Labour Participation Rate (FLPR) to 59 percent by 2020 through attracting and retaining highly qualified women in the workforce.
The current FLPR stands at 54.1 percent, a 7.3 percent increase since 2010 which has resulted in an additional 750,000 women entering the workforce.
Resume clinics were also held at the fair, along with talks that emphasised on personal branding.
In Malaysia, although 63 percent of public university enrollees are women, a significant number of them tend to drop off the workforce due to personal or family commitments, without returning at a later stage.
Based on the statistics, this trend will largely affect Malaysia’s talent pool in years to come.
“That is why TalentCorp has been working with Malaysia’s top employers to implement flexible work arrangements (FWA), family-friendly facilities and work-life benefits as well as on job-matching platforms such as this Career Comeback Fair.
“It makes good business sense to put in place the necessary support for women talent to retain valuable human capital,” said TalentCorp CEO Shareen Shariza Datuk Abdul Ghani.
A Resourcing Grant and a Retention Grant is also offered under TalentCorp’s Career Comeback programme.
The Resourcing Grant is available for companies that have implemented or enhanced a recruitment program targeted at women returnees, and the grant will be used to co-fund 75% of the recruitment costs incurred.
The Retention Grant, however, is for companies that have successfully hired and retained women returnees for more than six months, with a grant equivalent to one month of the returnees’ salary.
The Government has also introduced various incentives to encourage employers to attract and retain women in the workforce such as tax incentives for introducing FWA, training for women who have returned to work after career breaks, and provision of childcare centre in the workplace.
Over 250 women returned to the workforce in 2015 under the Career Comeback programme, bringing with them over RM15 million cumulative income. Out of this figure, the majority found employment in the ICT/business services, electrical and electronics and education sectors and, on average, managed to secure a middle management position and a monthly salary of RM4,700.
One such employer was UEM Group Berhad, who believes that women are a driving force of the economy.
“Malaysian employers should play a more active role in promoting women on career breaks to return to the workforce.
“Those on career breaks may need to be upscaled but they nevertheless represent a pool of talented professionals to be leveraged on, especially at a time when most of us cite a lack of talent as hampering business growth,” said UEM Group chief human capital officer Norlida Azmi.
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