A TOTAL of 500,257 job seekers managed to secure employment through 27 initiatives implemented by the government as of December 3, surpassing the target of creating 500,000 job opportunities set by the Finance Ministry through the Budget 2021.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said it was a very meaningful achievement considering the challenges facing the labour market since the Covid outbreak in March last year, which resulted in the unemployment rate soaring to 5.3% in May the same year.

Among the key initiatives that have contributed to this success, he said, are the hiring incentive programme, PenjanaKerjaya, and the Malaysia Short-Term Employment Programme (MySTEP).

“As of December 3, PenjanaKerjaya 2.0 has succeeded in providing placement for a total of 221,966 employees, exceeding the overall target of 200,000 job opportunities for this year.

“PenjanaKerjaya is run by the Social Security Organisation, which provides salary incentives of up to 60% of the monthly salary to employers, as well as high skills training programmes or professional certificates to employees of up to RM7,000,” he said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today.

The RM700 million government initiative, MySTEP, also surpassed the overall target of creating 50,000 jobs this year with the placement of 61,328 employees on a contract basis for at least six months in various government ministries and agencies, as well as government-linked companies (GLCs).

Of that number, a total of 41,680 people were given placement in the public sector, while the remaining 19,648 in GLCs and their strategic partners.

“Under the programme, applicants are placed at various ministries and agencies, such as the Finance Ministry, Higher Education Ministry, Public Service Commission, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Petronas, Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Employees Provident Fund and Khazanah Nasional.

“Since PenjanaKerjaya 2.0 and MySTEP were first implemented last January, the number of jobs created has always exceeded the set monthly target,” he said.

The prime minister said apart from PenjanaKerjaya 2.0 and MySTEP, the government had also managed to create more than 123,312 new jobs through investments in the country, with 74.2% of them in the skilled and semi-skilled categories.

The prime minister expressed confidence that the momentum of job creation can continue through the strategy formulated by the National Employment Council (NEC), in line with the recovery and opening up of various economic sectors.

He said NEC would also strive to address related issues, such as the shortage of workers in certain sectors, on providing equal opportunities for the vulnerable, as well as employment-related issues.

“This development can indirectly strengthen the household income of the Malaysian Family, especially beneficiaries of tithes, in B40 and M40 groups,” he said.

He thanked all the ministries, government agencies and GLCs that have contributed to the government’s success in surpassing the target in creating job opportunities for this year. – Bernama, December 12, 2021.