KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 293,639 individuals have lost their jobs from 2020 to Sept 27 of this year, according to Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad.
He said that the manufacturing sector has been the hardest hit, with 75,615 individuals affected, followed by the wholesale and retail sector with 43,614 job losses, and the professional, scientific, and technical activities sector, which has seen 23,907 jobs lost.
The sum also involved another 19,931 individuals in the ICT sector, food and beverages, as well as the accommodation sector (23,124), construction sector (21,233), transport sector (20,953), and other sectors (65,262).
Abdul Rahman was responding to Oscar Ling (PH-Sibu), who asked on Monday (Oct 21), about skilled training programs offered by the Human Resources Ministry to improve a graduate’s marketability.
Meanwhile, Abdul Rahman cited statistics from the Social Security Organisation which stated 575,044 active job seekers have been recorded from January this year till Sept 27 this year at the MYFutureJobs portal, compared to 125,956 vacancies posted.
To address underemployment among new graduates and other local workers, Abdul Rahman said the Human Resources Ministry introduced various programs, such as the Training Program under the Employment Insurance System, the Prospective Worker Training Scheme and Industry 4.0 focused courses.
“The Human Resources Ministry is committed to ensure graduates and local workers are able to face economic challenges by having the needed skills, especially in the technology and Industry 4.0, which includes rapidly developing automation and artificial intelligence, " said Abul Rahman.
Meanwhile, Abdul Rahman said the minimum wage increase from RM1,500 to RM1,700 monthly, which will be enforced on Feb 1 next year, does not involve skilled and semi-skilled graduates.
Abdul Rahman said the increase in minimum wage will only involve subordinate jobs such as labour.
When tabling Budget 2025 in Parliament last Friday (Oct 18), Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced an increase in the minimum wage from RM1,500 to RM1,700.
Anwar also said employers with less than five workers will be given a six-month deferment period, until Aug 1 next year.
