Saravanan says a total of 99,696 employees from various sectors were terminated between Jan and Nov 27 this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic. – Bernama file photo
KUCHING (Dec 3): A total of 99,696 employees from various sectors were terminated between Jan and Nov 27 this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan today.
He said this was based on the record of the Employment Insurance System (EIS), pointing out that among the reasons for such job losses were due to closure and downsizing of businesses.
“Some of them lost their jobs over Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) and Mutual Separation Scheme (MSS) while some of their companies faced critical financial problems.
“There were others who faced partial closure, acquisition of company and relocation of company,” he said when replying to Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran in Parliament.
Saravanan said most of their employers were facing financial pressure as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to him, a total of 81,217 employees have lost their jobs despite the Wage Subsidy Programme (WSP) and Employment Retention Programme (ERP) implemented by the government.
“Based on the record of the EIS up until Nov 27, a total of 13,109 employees who lost their jobs belonged to the management category while 26,079 of them fell under the technician category and 19,095 of them professionals.”
He said these employees came with an income of RM4,000 and above.
Based on the data from the Social Security Organisation (Socso), Saravanan said it was estimated that 75 per cent of the overall employees were categorised as the B40 group, with an income of RM4,000 and below.
Because of this, he said the WSP implemented by the government was aimed at reaching out to the B40 group, which represented the worst hit employees.
“Nevertheless, employees of the management category who have been terminated are still protected under the EIS Act (Act 800). This means that employees who earned more than RM4,000 will be given the Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA),” he added.
He said the government is aware that more employees, particularly those from the tourism sector had also been impacted by the pandemic.
As such, the government through the 2021 Budget will extend the WSP for another three months, he said.
“This is particularly for the tourism sector including the retail sector, with a rate of RM600 per month for employees earning RM4,000 and below,” he added.
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