Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is moving to integrate a comprehensive database for labourers after years of fragmented records scattered across multiple agencies despite the state’s economy long relying on foreign workers.
Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan said the absence of a unified system has made it difficult for policymakers to accurately assess workforce needs and plan labour development strategies.
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Speaking on Friday at the Labour Market Strengthening Action Plan Workshop for Sabah, he said stronger coordination between federal and state agencies was needed to build a more inclusive labour data system.
“We need a more inclusive database, not one that only serves certain parties, because when data is coordinated we can plan and implement labour market strategies more effectively,” he said.
Firdaus said the workshop, also attended by State Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk James Ratib, identified structural weaknesses in Sabah’s labour ecosystem including fragmented labour data, skills mismatches and reliance on low-productivity sectors.
Statistics presented during the workshop showed that out of Sabah’s 3.7 million population, about 1.9 million are part of the labour force including roughly 830,000 foreign workers, while 61.8 per cent are semi-skilled and the state faces a skills mismatch rate of 55.5 per cent with youth unemployment at 19.3 per cent.
According to data from the MYFutureJobs portal, agriculture recorded the highest share of job vacancies in Sabah at 37.7 per cent followed by construction at 15 per cent and manufacturing at 9.8 per cent, with the workshop proposing the establishment of the Sabah Talent Development Centre to coordinate talent development, workforce training and collaboration between government, industry and training institutions.
