KOTA KINABALU, June 16 — The migration of Sabahan youths to other states in search of better job opportunities has hampered the state’s economy and development, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan today.

He said in 2020, 45,900 Sabahan youths moved out of the state in search of other jobs with the trend moving upwards, resulting in the crippling of the state’s human capital resources, and in turn, hindering its economic recovery efforts.

"Sabah lacks a pool of talent to catalyse its economic recovery and growth efforts,” he said when launching the "Human Capital Migration and Impact on Sabah” in conjunction with the HRD Corp Open Day at the Sabah International Convention Centre here.

"What’s the point of asking for more development funds, what is the point in getting more money if Sabahans are migrating elsewhere?” asked Saravanan, adding that Sabah stands to lose out more now that the country is entering into the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0).

The Tapah MP said that Sabah may suffer from the lack of job opportunities, especially for educated and skilled youngsters.

Saravanan said agencies under his ministry are now focused on reskilling and upskilling young Sabahans, saying these two strategies are a holistic approach for human capital retention and adapting to the advancements in the IR4.0.

He also said his ministry is also focusing on educating parents on how to decide on their children’s education choices and was in discussion with the Education Ministry about offering more courses to match future job demands.

He said parents should make choices that would allow their child becoming unemployable, not choosing a course that would see them ending up without jobs in the future.