A new national platform has launched to connect TVET graduates with jobs and work placements, with targets of 1,000 participating companies by the end of 2026 and up to 100,000 placements by next year.

The Government-Industry TVET Coordination Body (GITC) TVET Placement Centre, or GTPC, was launched on Saturday in conjunction with National TVET Day 2026. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi officiated the launch.

A Clearer Path From Graduation To Employment

If you’re a TVET student or recent graduate, the platform gives you a structured way to build a profile, list your qualifications, and apply for placements directly through the system. Before this, the path from completing a TVET programme to landing a job or industrial training placement was largely informal, relying on your institution’s own industry contacts or your own job search.

Work-based learning opportunities, apprenticeships, and internships are also part of what the platform will cover, not only full employment.

A Single Channel For Finding TVET-Trained Candidates

If you run a business that relies on technically trained workers, the platform gives you a channel to specify what skills and qualifications you need and access a pool of TVET graduates directly. GITC chairman Tan Sri Dr Soh Thian Lai said the goal is to bring 1,000 companies onto the platform this year, expanding to between 10,000 and 20,000 over the longer term.

Smaller businesses in particular have found it difficult to reach TVET-trained candidates without going through institutions one by one.

Skills Supply And Industry Demand, Still Out Of Step

The underlying problem is a mismatch between what TVET graduates can do and what employers say they need. Graduates complete their programmes but lack a clear route to employment. Employers, particularly those outside major hiring pipelines, struggle to reach TVET talent efficiently.

Soh said the placement targets are meant to measure whether the ecosystem is actually solving that mismatch, rather than simply measuring activity on the platform. The job placement figure of between 50,000 and 100,000 by next year is the number to watch.

Sustained Engagement Is The Real Test

The launch came alongside the introduction of TVET 2.0, which Zahid described as a renewed national push toward a more industry-responsive vocational training system. His remarks positioned TVET as a primary route to employment and income growth, rather than a secondary pathway for students who did not pursue academic qualifications.

Whether that shift is reflected in how funding, employer engagement, and institutional support are directed will become clearer as the platform scales. Most platforms of this kind see strong early sign-ups. 

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Christina Chandra

Christina writes about personal finance with an eye for making the complicated feel straightforward. She is drawn to the everyday money decisions people face and genuinely enjoys finding the clearest way to explain them. Between articles, she is probably napping, on a hiking trail, or terrorising her sister’s cats.

About THE AUTHOR

Christina Chandra

Christina Chandra

Christina writes about personal finance with an eye for making the complicated feel straightforward. She is drawn to the everyday money decisions people face and genuinely enjoys finding the clearest way to explain them. Between articles, she is probably napping, on a hiking trail, or terrorising her sister's cats.

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