Employers: Laid-off workers getting a leg-up

KUALA LUMPUR: The 2021 Budget provides a second chance for those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said providing allocations to create jobs was a good move.

“Looking at the budget, despite the financial constraints, the government has done its best to put the economy back on track and provide aid to employers, workers and the people.”

RM1 billion would be allocated through government agencies to improve skills and employee retraining programmes.

Also, RM3.7 billion was allocated to carry out the Employment Generation Guarantee Scheme (JanaKerja), involving the provision of 500,000 jobs that included skills upgrading and retraining programmes.

The government planned to extend the period of providing employment allowance under the Employment Insurance System (SIP) for three months, involving RM150 million and which was expected to benefit 130,000 job seekers.

Shamsuddin, in citing SIP data, said about 90,000 local workers lost their jobs this year.

“So even if people lose their jobs, they will get a temporary allowance while taking courses to get a new job.”

Independent economic analyst Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Zakariah Abdul Rashid said what was important was for economic activities to continue for jobs to be created.

“During this pandemic, skills training is not so critical yet, because it is not upskilling that we want, but to keep jobs.”

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz had said, when tabling the budget, that the average unemployment rate over the past 10 years was 3.2 per cent or about 500,000 persons, but following the pandemic, it had increased to 5.3 per cent or 820,000 in May, the highest since 1989.

However, he said, with the reopening of the economy and implementation of the Prihatin and Penjana initiatives, the unemployment rate had dropped to 4.7 per cent in August. –Bernama

Source: NST