4,000 Sarawakians lost jobs amid Covid-19, assembly told

 

A total of 3,002 Sarawakians lost their jobs in 2020 and 1,035 faced the same fate last year, the state assembly was told.

KUCHING: As many as 4,037 Sarawakians lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2021, the Sarawak state assembly was told today.

Deputy minister in the premier’s department (labour, immigration and project monitoring) Gerawat Gala said 3,002 Sarawakians lost their jobs in 2020, while 1,035 faced the same fate the following year.

“To reduce the burden of those affected, including those who lost their jobs, the Sarawak government has introduced eight Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) packages totalling RM5.7 billion.

“The BKSS packages include handing out cash assistance to B40 groups as well as small traders, as well as rent deferments,” he said in reply to Safiee Ahmad (GPS-Daro).

Safiee had asked how many Sarawakians lost their jobs during the pandemic and what were the state government’s measures to address the matter during the state assembly’s question-and-answer session today.

Gerawat said the Sarawak government carried out several efforts, including the implementation of the Graduate Enhancement Training Sarawak (GETS) for graduates in the state, to address the issue.

“Apart from that, the state government will also carry out an industry workforce development programme in collaboration with industry to provide training,” he said.

He said the Social Security Organisation (Socso) had also conducted the Go Rural Area Programme (GRAP) and Career Carnival to provide information on job opportunities.

“For the long term, the Sarawak government will continue to implement more initiatives under the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 to create more high-productivity economic activities and job opportunities.

“It is expected that 200,000 jobs with high salaries will be created by 2030,” he said.

On the question of workers having their salary reduced, he said a total of 5,932 workers saw cuts in their salary between 2020 to 2021.

“These figures are higher compared to those who were retrenched,” he said.

He added that from 2020 to 2021, the majority of workers who had been retrenched were those from the hotel industry and food services, with 2,772 workers from these sectors affected.

“Meanwhile, retrenchments in the retail and sales sector involved 1,328 workers and the construction sector involved 1,030 sectors,” he said. - FMT