Media Statement: Budget 2018

Shareen Shariza Dato’ Abdul Ghani

Chief Executive Officer of Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad (TalentCorp)

TalentCorp welcomes the Government’s announcement for Budget 2018, which puts special emphasis on human capital development, particularly women, and its plans toward nation building. We remain focused in developing Malaysia’s talent landscape through attracting, nurturing and retaining skilled talent in the country.

1. We welcome the Government’s announcement to introduce the National Leaders' Circle programme to be spearheaded by TalentCorp.
 

2. Malaysia is not short of leadership talent, it is short of people with leadership roles. Through the National Leaders' Circle programme, we will work with Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) and Government-Linked Investment Companies (GLICs) to develop future leaders and facilitate sharing of best practices and knowledge transfer within the companies to solve national-level issues.
 

3. The National Leaders' Circle will enhance the nurturing and retention of Malaysia’s top talent to drive national economic growth for the country by 2050.
 

4. We support the announcement that 2018 is the year of Women Empowerment, as part of the Government’s effort to enhance the contribution of women in the workforce.
 

5. The announcement of individual income tax exemption on income earned within 12 months for women’s re-entry into the workforce is in line with TalentCorp’s Career Comeback Programme. This will be a strong contributor to the nation’s Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) target of 59 per cent by 2020.
 

6. The mandatory maternity leave for private sector to be increased from 60 to 90 days bodes well for the flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and Diversity & Inclusion agenda advocated by TalentCorp.
 

7. We are pleased to see that more is done to increase FWAs, flexible benefits, childcare centre in main offices and ease of working hours for pregnant women for GLC employees. Benefits of FWAs include:

• Work-life integration, where employees can balance professional and personal commitments. 
• Provide support to parents working at home. 
• Motivate employees to work to their fullest capability. 
• Retain valuable employees; reduce tardiness and absenteeism, while keeping costs managed. 
   

8. There are already more than 60 companies in Malaysia that have implemented FWAs since TalentCorp launched its FWAs efforts. We will continue working closely with employers on offering FWAs as a key strategy to attract and retain talent in the workforce.
 

We are positive that Budget 2018 is a progressive undertaking that will help in TalentCorp’s efforts to prepare the nation for the future of work.