Azlan Othman
Local jobseekers’ curriculum vitae (CV), are sent to companies by JobCentre Brunei hoping that they can be hired to reduce unemployment in the country, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah said.
“We are also offering training to locals at JobCentre Brunei and Manpower Planning and Employment Council (MPEC).
“Locals should take advantage of the training so that they can take over jobs from foreigners. If we rely heavily on foreign workers, it costs us a lot,” he said at a press briefing to update on the COVID-19 situation yesterday.
Only 300 jobseekers have come forward to participate in the training up to date.
“We can provide training for up to 1,000 individuals with facilities provided by the government. Since the COVID-19 outbreak last March, we have encouraged companies to hire locals where close to 1,400 vacancies are available including for i-Ready programme staff,” the minister said.
Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew said unemployment figures had dropped from 8.2 per cent at the end of 2018 to 6.8 per cent at the end of last year.
He said in view of COVID-19, local companies are more prone to the delivery of new norm in business such as online business.
“Nobody goes to tourism-related business during this pandemic except for the domestic tourism opportunity such as staycation,” he said.
The minister said the interim measures announced by the government last March are constantly reviewed such as the six months loan restructuring and providing 25 per cent salary subsidies for Bruneian employees in the micro, small and medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with less than 100 employees for a period of three months.
The government announced the measures last April to address the impact of COVID-19. The government provided assistance like the six-month deferment on Employees Trust Fund (TAP) and the Supplemental Contributory Pension (SCP) for private sector employees earning BND1,500 and below in all sectors of the MSME category with employees fewer than 100.