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INVESTMENT POTENTIAL
SKILLEDWORKFORCE
On November 18, 2019, theManpower Planning and
Employment Council (MPEC) was established under
the PrimeMinister’s Of ce to replace theManpower
Council and tackle unemployment in the country.
According to the Labour Force Survey 2019, the
unemployment rate decreased from 8.7 per cent
in 2018 to 6.8 per cent in 2019. The number
of jobseekers in 2019 was recorded at 16,234
compared to 19,233 in 2018.
Based on the same survey, there is an upward
trend in employment. From 2017 to 2019, the total
number of employed people increased from 186,886
to 221,711.
To strengthen the supply of local workforce and
ful ll industry needs, a number of initiatives are
carried out by MPEC, one of which is JobCentre
Brunei (JCB).
JCB is a one-stop career centre for local jobseekers
and employers in the private sector. Job vacancies
are posted on JCB’s website, including i-Ready
apprenticeship programmes for graduates with little
or no experience to enhance their marketability. The
i-Ready programmes are continuously monitored by
the MPEC Secretariat.
Other services by JCB include Job Matching,
which involves sharing a talent pool of registered
jobseekers to private companies based on their
vacancies’ requirement, walk-in interviews, career
guidance and training.
As of November 11, 2020, a total of 5,776 job
vacancies were advertised on JCB – 3,405 were
lled by locals while another 2,371 were still
undergoing recruitment.
Other initiatives by MPEC include Continuous
Education and Training (CET) programme and
SkillsPlus.
The CET programme is a collaboration between the
MPEC Secretariat and Institute of Brunei Technical
Education (IBTE). The programme aims to generate
job-ready and competent locals aligned with the
industry demand.
SkillsPlus, an initiative under the Learn and Grow
programme by MPEC, is supported by the Lifelong
Learning Centre (L3C) of the Ministry of Education
(MoE). The programme provides funding assistance
to local jobseekers, freelancers, and employees
in the private sector to learn new skills by taking
courses offered by L3C.
In addition to working with MoE, MPEC also works
with the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) to
develop training programmes that are aligned with
industry and economic needs.
MPEC collaborates with career teachers across
various schools in the nation to share ongoing
initiatives and programmes as well as key
information on job demand to be shared with
students.
The MPEC Secretariat acts as an advisory to the
scholarship committee including student loan
applications in both MoE and MoRA. Working with
the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS),
the MPEC Secretariat has been appointed as a
member of the National Council on Social Issues
and National Welfare Scheme Taskforce to address
unemployment issues in the country.
The MPEC Secretariat also shares information
on professional courses with the Public Service
Department (JPA) and Public Service Commission
(SPA) to introduce professional programmes that
can be offered to civil servants as part of in-service
training.
Established last year, the Manpower Industry
Steering Committee (MISC) is a sub-committee
under MPEC. The committee was set up as a
platform for collaboration between industries,
regulators as well as education and training
institutions in ensuring alignment to the respective
sectoral manpower demands.
MISC focusses on ve industrial sectors: energy,
construction, hospitality and tourism, ICT and
marine. Sectoral MISC Working Groups (MISC-
WG) have been set up, led by industry players and
regulators.