First Ind-E-Zone In Perak Launched To Connect Undergraduates To Internship And Career Opportunities

Tanjung Malim, 22 January 2014 – The Deputy Minister of Education II YB Tuan P. Kamalanathan launched the first Industry Engagement Zone (Ind-E-Zone) in Perak at the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) today.

Following Budget 2015 announcement which called for greater industry-academia collaboration to nurture home-grown Malaysian talent, Talent Corporation Malaysia (TalentCorp) partnered with selected public universities and employers to roll out Ind-E-Zone centres nationwide to address the skills mismatch between new graduates and industry demands, while empowering students to better prepare themselves for employment.

The World Bank in its June 2014 Malaysia Economic Monitor (MEM) reported that the main reason for graduate unemployment in Malaysia is the skills mismatch between recent graduates and employers’ demands. This is further exacerbated by lack of collaboration between universities and industries, with most companies not currently engaged with local universities to enhance the employability of graduates.

Designed to be a dedicated area within university campuses, Ind-E-Zone is a one-stop career information centre which will connect undergraduates to industry-relevant content and educate them on internship and career opportunities within Malaysia’s key industries. They will also offer a range of activities such as Industry Engagements, Networking Sessions, Career Talks and Sharing Sessions with employers to help students make more informed career decisions.

 "The career services centres of universities need to be closely engaged with industry in order to ensure that they are able to advise our students well in pursuing careers suited to them. We must be able to help them understand employer expectations, in order to empower our students to realise their career potential in a fast changing economy," said YB Tuan P. Kamalanathan.

As an important link between universities and the labour market, Ind-E-Zone enables employers to have a consistent and more visible presence at universities as well as play a more active role in matching students with the appropriate types of professional opportunities.

 "Through the establishment of Ind-E-Zone, which will also be known as TalentCorp Corner in selected public and private universities in Malaysia, TalentCorp aims to continue strengthening industry-academia collaborations and work towards industry curriculum embedment, leading to increased numbers of skilled graduates capable of meeting the needs of 430,000 job opportunities opening up in key sectors under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP)," said Johan Mahmood Merican, CEO of TalentCorp.

Altogether, 11 Ind-E-Zone centres are expected to be operational at Malaysian public universities by the end of 2015. Since the start of this year, three new Ind-E-Zone centres have opened at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and UPSI. It was first launched at the Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) in November 2014.

For more information on TalentCorp and its efforts to enhance graduate employability, please visit www.talentcorp.com.my