THE Human Resources Ministry (Kesuma) recently unveiled its Practical Training Incentives (Ilham) initiative.
The initiative is an ecosystem of internship incentives for employers driven by TalentCorp and other agencies under the ministry.
It comprises four components: National Structured Internship Programme (MySIP), Internship Matching Grant for SMEs (LiKES), Industrial Training Scheme (ITS), and MyNext profiling and internship placement platform.
MySIP was introduced in 2012 to encourage companies to provide meaningful practical learning experience through approved structured internship modules for students. It gives eligible employers a double tax deduction incentive for related expenses incurred on interns.
LiKES is an internship placement matching grant by TalentCorp for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups.
ITS is a scheme that enables employers to utilise their levy to sponsor students from a university, college or training institution to undergo practical training at their organisation.
MyNext profiling and internship placement platform is an all-in-one talent solution and analytics platform for students, universities, companies and the workforce. Companies can look to hire interns on the platform.
Ilham was recently introduced at the official launch of LiKES.
MATCHING INTERNSHIP GRANT
The LiKES matching grant covers internship periods of up to six months, and is open for application by SMEs and startups registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM).
Eligible applicants must offer internship placements lasting a minimum of 10 weeks and provide a stipulated minimum internship allowance.
For interns pursuing diplomas, the minimum allowance required is RM500 a month, and TalentCorp will reimburse employers RM250 a month.
For interns pursuing a bachelor's degree, master's degree or professional certificate, the minimum allowance required is RM600 a month, and TalentCorp will reimburse employers RM300 a month.
A total of RM30 million has been allocated for LiKES, according to human resources minister Steven Sim.
"For the first time, the government has introduced an internship matching grant to support our SMEs and startups. Now, more employers can take part in a collective nation-building effort to nurture our young talents.
"LiKES, together with the existing MySIP will help to provide work readiness and welfare by offering allowances during the training period.
"This will help level the internship playing field for SMEs who constituted 97 per cent of total businesses in Malaysia and contributed 48.2 per cent to the country's employment in 2022," he said.
"As Kesuma's strategic think tank, TalentCorp engages with industry and academia to develop guidelines for employers to prioritise interns' skill enhancement and welfare.
"These efforts will be reflected in the upcoming National HR Policy, enabling employers to responsibly manage their internship programmes," he said.
As part of the National HR Policy that will be launched on Labour Day, Sim said that the ministry would also be unveiling the National Internship Policy.
According to Sim, there is currently no standardisation or guidelines for internships in Malaysia. A well-designed internship playbook is essential to ensure the internship programme can meet the needs of the economy in the future.
The framework for the National Internship Policy will be announced at the launch of the National HR Policy during Labour Day.
INTERNSHIPS TODAY, WORKFORCE TOMORROW
Over 277,000 students are required to go through internship or industry training annually, making up 2 per cent of Malaysia's labour force.
Programmes like MySIP have benefitted both students and employers — over 112,000 students have been part of this programme since 2012, with 600 companies participating each year.
In 2023 alone, MySIP companies received approximately RM3.2 million in tax incentives.
With the RM30 million fund from TalentCorp, LiKES is targetting to cover 25,000 to 30,000 interns between 2024 to 2026.
TalentCorp group chief executive officer Thomas Matthew said structured internships were crucial in strengthening the nation's talent demand and supply.
"Structured internships serve as one of the key strategies to develop quality talent, reduce youth unemployment, address skills mismatch and underemployment, and improve talent skillsets to meet both current and future industry needs," he said.
He encouraged SMEs and startups, especially those operating outside of cities, to apply for LiKES and provide meaningful internship opportunities to the up-and-coming workforce.
"More importantly, we seek to strategically facilitate the transition of talent from educational institutions to the workplace while also providing financial support to SMEs, enabling them to proactively participate in nurturing local talent," he added.
LiKES is open for application from March 18 onwards. Find out more on this website.
