A TOTAL of 64,495 workers in various sectors nationwide have lost their jobs since early this year, said Human Resource Minister M. Saravanan.

He said data from the Social Security Organisation (Socso) showed a higher number of lost jobs than the 55,000 reported by the employment agencies.

Saravanan said the government had taken several steps, including introducing the hiring and training incentive programme, PenjanaKerjaya, in June, to help retrenched workers.

“As of July 23, a total of 16,198 employers have registered on this programme and of that number, 2,240 employers have hired 6,928 workers.

“We also announced that there will be no new intake of foreign workers in all sectors until the year-end so locals will be given priority to fill up vacancies,” he told a press conference after launching the PenjanaKerjana Carnival at Dewan Merdeka in Tapah, today. 

The job fair offered about 7,000 vacancies while 20 employers held open interviews at the event. 

Saravanan said the carnival would be expanded to Johor, Malacca, Penang, Kedah, Sabah and Sarawak to help more job seekers.

In Perak, he said 420 employers have registered on the PenjanaKerjaya programme, 147 of which have since hired people while 510 workers have landed a job.

“According to data from the Department of Statistics, the unemployment rate in Perak in the first quarter of this year is 3.4% and according to the Perak Today portal, the youth (aged 15 to 30) unemployment rate is at 5%.

He said Socso data showed that 3,472 workers who lost their jobs in January to June 15 were registered on the Employment Insurance System. – Bernama, July 25, 2020.