Everyone can play a part in helping unemployed people

Based on the DOSM's released statistics yesterday, sale values of wholesale and retail trade rebound 26.3% growth in May as compared to a drop of 35.2%. The growth attributed mainly to the retail sales of specialized goods and motor vehicles, trade of repairs, and maintenance.

Although physical retail businesses are adversely affected, some shopping malls appear to be BAU since RMCO begins. It is, therefore, not surprising to see improvement in retail trade statistics. However, some shopping malls do not appear to be hustling and bustling malls. Many retail outlets have closed down, making these malls less vibrant and eventually maybe difficult to reinvigorate the malls.

Besides the retail industry, many industries are downsizing or closing down to a certain extent. These include hospitality and tourism, airlines, restaurants, and cafes. I am curious to find out what happens to the workforce of these industries. I would imagine that some will reskill themselves to take on new jobs, and some will leverage their skills and experience in new or adjacent surviving business sectors.

The Government of Malaysia also provided incentives to employers to hire and train unemployed individuals (including those made redundant). Such an incentive program is good to give assurance of employment and training of those unemployed individuals. The challenge remains how many employers are willing to hire new employees in times of uncertainty. I am of the view that some growing businesses can consider hiring new employees to support their growth, and some financially-strong employers can play their part to hire unemployed individuals to address unemployment-related concerns.

In other words, everyone can play a part in helping unemployed people. I am playing a small role by providing free talks and organizing events on topics around design thinking and exponential transformation. In the last three months, I am grateful that I have met many superb people from varied professions, experiences, and expertise, and I have also learned a lot from them during these events and post events.

The Challenge: Reimagine how we might reskill and hire unemployed people