Employment centre to facilitate jobseekers

Employment centre to facilitate jobseekers


Working visit: The Minister of Home Affairs (L) listens to a briefing by Anisa Hj Mohd Taib (R), the assistant Labour Commissioner.Picture: BT/Ubaidillah Masli
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

FOLLOWING its recent transition from the Labour Department building to the existing government rest-house in the capital, the Pusat Pekerjaan Tempatan, or the Employment Centre for Locals was visited by the Minister of Home Affairs yesterday.

In an interview with the press, Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Hj Mohd Yusof told media that the purpose of the visit was to discuss and understand the plans to increase the effectiveness of the centre's role in assisting and encouraging local job-seekers to work in the private sector.

The working visit also held the objective of familiarising the public with the centre's new location, which is adjacent to the Brunei Hotel. The centre, which is actually a division under the Labour Department, was moved to the capital so that job-seekers would find it more convenient and accessible upon registering themselves at the centre.

During the visit, the minister was shown around the various units found at the centre such as the Development and Training Unit and the Welfare for Locals Unit by the assistant commissioner for Labour, Anisa Hj Mohd Taib. Also present during the working visit was the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Pg Abdul Haris Pg Hj Shahbudin as well as the current Acting Commissioner of Labour, Hjh Rosliah Hj Hasbollah and other officials from the ministry and the Labour Department.

Among the roles of the centre were to register local job-seekers and to seek help to set up interviews with employers who advertise their job offers at the centre.

The centre also often held talks with employers so that they would place priority in hiring local employees at their respective companies.

It also plays a pivotal role of conducting the various follow-up investigations at the work-places that the individuals have been employed by.

A special programme was introduced for the unemployed graduates and various school-leavers under the Human Resource Fund that was already being implemented on trial by the centre. It will carry out "Employment Orientation and Job Matching" and comprised of basic training, understanding of communication and work ethics as well as conducting work placement offers and over-seeing of the signing of the job contract.

At present, there were two groups in the programme, one of which had 44 participants and the other 34 participants.

And among the programme's objectives was to provide information on job opportunities in the private sector, train the job-seekers in "tailor-made" skills with the demands of the employer in mind and to change the local mind-set.

It also aimed to increase the private sector's role as the main provider of job opportunities and raise the involvement of the local people in economic activities, and thus reducing the unemployment.

Some 20 staff were employed at the centre, that moved to the new building in early August. (ODM1)The Brunei Times