MP SPEAKS | The RM6.5 billion Malaysia@Work initiative was unveiled in Budget 2020 to create up to 350,000 jobs for Malaysians over a five-year period. The programme, also known as #MalaysiaKerja, is a stimulus package that will provide both wage incentives for workers and hiring incentives for employers.
Malaysians@Work was launched because the Pakatan Harapan government had recognised the key challenges we face and hence the need to create better employment opportunities for the youth and women while reducing our overdependence on low-skilled foreign workers.
Very simply, Malaysians@Work will provide both wage incentives for workers and hiring incentives for employers via the following key thrusts:
Graduates@Work was targeted at the hiring of graduates who are unemployed for less than 12 months. The hired graduates will receive a wage incentive of RM500/month, in conjunction with a hiring incentive of up to RM300/month for each new hire for two years. We expect that after two years, the previously unemployed graduate would have picked up the necessary skills and competence on-the-job to ensure continued employment with the relevant companies.
Women@Work was targeted to encourage more women to return to the workforce. Therefore, for returning women workers above the age of 30, who have stopped working for less than one year, they will receive a wage incentive RM500 a month while the employers will receive a hiring incentive up to RM300 a month for two years.
Locals@Work targets Malaysians who are hired to replace foreign workers. They are provided with a wage incentive of up to RM500 a month (depending on the sectors) and hiring incentive for employers of up to RM250 a month for two years.
The groundbreaking initiative was launched to create more job opportunities for Malaysians; reduce the unemployment rate, especially among graduates; increase women’s participation in the workforce and reduce the heavy reliance on cheap foreign labour. Ultimately, the scheme will play a major role in boosting economic productivity and growth for the country.
Unfortunately, under the new Perikatan National government, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz in his parliamentary reply to me on July 27, 2020, disclosed that the initiative was terminated due to the Covid-19 crisis.
However, it is precisely because of the Covid-19 crisis that Malaysians@Work is even more relevant and important. Malaysians are suffering from job losses as the official unemployment rate has increased from 3.3 percent in 2020 to 4.7 percent today, involving more than 740,000 Malaysians.
In March, the Malaysians Employment Federation had estimated that the unemployment rate might hit as high as 13 percent due to the Covid-19 induced economic crisis. These figures don’t take into account other exacerbating issues of under-employment.
The reinstatement of Malaysians@Work is one of the six key demands from Pakatan Harapan to the Ministry of Finance to present a ‘unity budget’ for 2021. Given the plight the Malaysian and global economy is in today, Budget 2021 must go above and beyond what was announced for 2020, including the extension of wage subsidies for companies which have been affected by the crisis.
The failure to adopt Malaysians@Work and other additional measures to protect and boost employment will render Budget 2021 a disastrous failure for the economic well-being of ordinary Malaysians.
TONY PUA is the MP for Damansara and DAP national publicity secretary. - Mkini
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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