Brendon Beliku is a corporate immigration and employment compliance professional based in Kota Kinabalu. He writes independently on Sabah’s economic governance, labour policy, regulatory affairs and Momogun empowerment.
KOTA KINABALU: Budget 2027, tabled on 9 October, puts serious money behind skills. It sets aside RM8 billion nationally for technical and vocational education and training (TVET), RM3 billion for HRD Corp to fund three million training opportunities, and RM500 million for skills financing through PTPK.
Sabah’s own federal allocation rises to RM18.7 billion, up from RM17.6 billion. How much of the national training money reaches Sabah has not been published.
A more useful question than whether the sums are enough is what a good 2027 would look like for Sabah, and what it would take.
-An Illustrative Scenario-
This is an illustrative scenario, not a forecast. Imagine a strong year in which Sabah improves by 5 to 8 percent on three measures.
The band means something different for each. For labour productivity, it would be an ambitious gain. For approved investment, which swings widely from year to year, it would be a modest one.
For the share of TVET graduates working in their field inside Sabah, there is no published baseline at all, which is itself the first problem to fix.
Sabah drew RM11.37 billion in approved investment in the first half of 2025, according to the then Investment, Trade and Industry Minister.
A 5 to 8 percent rise on a similar base would add roughly RM570 million to RM910 million in a half year. Approved investment, however, is not realised investment, and neither equals jobs.
Much of Sabah’s large investment is in capital heavy sectors such as energy and petrochemicals, which can raise output while hiring relatively few people.
The scenario therefore depends less on how much money arrives than on how many skilled local jobs each ringgit creates.
Retention is the other starting point.
A Department of Statistics Malaysia study of Sabah job seekers found that 87.6 percent of those with a secondary school certificate stayed in the state, but only 54.4 percent of degree holders did. Many TVET learners come from the first group.
The risk is that as they upskill, they behave like the second.
-Where the Jobs Would Come From, and When-
Budget 2027 provides RM3.3 billion for roads in Sabah and Sarawak, and funds RM204 million in grid upgrades at the Dam Road and Segaliud substations.
Sepanggar Bay Container Port is expanding under a state taskforce, and POIC Lahad Datu and the proposed Sabah Economic Corridors point to further growth.
These need certified crane operators, maintenance technicians, electrical technicians and plant operators.
Timing is the catch. Pan Borneo Sabah Phase 1B is targeted for completion by the end of 2027, so its construction demand peaks before trainees who start in 2027 can graduate.
TVET programmes take one to three years. Training funded in 2027 should be aimed at operation and maintenance jobs from 2028 onward, not at construction already under way.
Wages will shape how employers respond. The minimum wage rises from RM1,700 to RM2,000 in June 2027, an increase of 17.6 percent, while firms with annual sales below RM50 million receive a temporary exemption.
A RM2,500 floor for semi-skilled workers and new graduates has been announced, with details pending. Even a strong 5 to 8 percent productivity gain would not cover a 17.6 percent rise at the floor.
Some employers will respond by cutting hours, automating, slowing graduate hiring or turning to informal labour. Others will invest in skills so that each worker produces more.
Which response wins depends on whether certified, job ready training is easy to reach.
-What Has to Go Right, and Who Owns It-
Four steps, offered as proposals for discussion, would make the scenario more likely.
First, publish a baseline. The Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Transport, working with the Institute for Development Studies (Sabah), could publish the share of TVET graduates employed in their field in Sabah one year after completion.
Without it, no one can say whether 2027 was a good year.
Second, map modules to the project pipeline. State agencies and training providers should agree with major investors which skills each project needs, and when.
Third, make the funds reachable. HRD Corp training is claim based, which favours firms with human resource staff.
The Ministry of Human Resources and HRD Corp should report Sabah’s share of training claims and offer simpler access for small Sabah employers, including those exempt from the new wage rate.
Fourth, make specialist hiring build local capability. Where projects bring in foreign specialists through the work pass system, employers should pair each appointment with local trainees and a handover date.
All of this rests on measures that are still being finalised through the Finance Bill and the Minimum Wages Order, so the details may change.
A good 2027 for Sabah will not be measured by the size of the allocations. It will be measured by how many young Sabahans, including Momogun youth from the interior, are working a year later in skilled jobs at home.
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