Malaysia's GBS sector to add 6,000 jobs in 2016

Malaysia's global business services (GBS) sector is on track to add another 6,000 jobs this year, riding on its resilience against the softening economic environment.

Malaysia Digital Economy Corp Sdn Bhd (MDEC) Head of Strategy and Planning for Global Business Services, Nik Izuddin Nik Mohd Yusof, said the GBS sector had recorded 86,801 jobs in 2015.

"We have not seen significant slowdown (in GBS industry). It is still encouraging. Hopefully, we can achieve that in the remaining of the year," he told Bernama.

He, however, did not elaborate on the industry's performance to-date.

Nik Izuddin said this after a graduation ceremony of Graduate Employability Management Scheme (GEMS-SSO) programme involving 20 students from five local universities recently.

The programme, jointly organised by Outsourcing Malaysia, MDEC and Talent Corp Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp), is the GBS-focused track aimed at providing industry exposure to final-year university students prior to graduation.

The programme is co-funded by TalentCorp and industry partners from the GBS sector. Since the programme's inception in 2014, over 250 final-year students had been trained and successfully placed as interns.

Under the GEMS-SSO programme, undergraduates undergo 10 to 12 days of intensive training with specialisation of human resource or finance.

The training is internationally-certified and delivered by International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) qualified trainers.

In addition, students are required to sit for the globally-recognised Certified Outsourcing Specialist IAOP certification examination as well as undergo a minimum 10 weeks to six months internship with a GBS company.

Since the programme's inception in 2014, over 250 final-year students have been trained and placed as interns and subsequently absorbed by the industry.

Meanwhile, Outsourcing Malaysia Director, Justin J. Anthony, said the association will be looking to expand GEMS-SSO's subjects from human resource and finance in the next six months.

"We started off with that and with the continuity of the programme, we will look at other areas like information technology and marketing," he said.

Outsourcing Malaysia is a chapter of the National ICT Association of Malaysia.