The Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) was established under the legal requirements of the Human Resources Development Act. Establishment of the HRDF is part of the government’s initiative to encourage the private sector employers to retrain and upgrade the skills of their employees in line with the needs of their business and industrialisation strategy of the country.

Employers who are registered and incorporated in Malaysia and who have registered with the HRDF and fulfilled the payment conditions are eligible to apply for training grants or financial assistance under the HRDF.

Unfortunately, recent media report have indicated that some employers are reluctant to send their workers for training under the HRDF. The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) was also informed by our members about this development and we are continuously receiving reports on the reluctance of employers.

MTUC views this development as unfortunate and sad to hear. Some employers are reluctant to send their workers for retraining on the ground that retraining their employees will affect the operation of the organisation or company. In fact, there are employers who take a negative stance that if their employees come back with additional skills, they would demand higher wages.

MTUC wants the government to impose mandatory instructions on employer to send their workers for retraining programs under HRDF in order to produce highly skilled workers. The employers must stop from giving illogical and unreasonable excuses.

The country needs highly-skilled Malaysian workers and at the same reduce dependency on foreign workers. Employers must extend their cooperation to produce highly-skilled workers in the long run via HRDF.

N GOPAL KISHNAM is secretary-general of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC).