Malaysia: Creating job opportunities as the way forward
Themed “Malaysian Family, Prosperous and Peaceful”, Malaysia’s Budget 2022 reflects an inclusive approach to focus on economic recovery and building national resilience. It is said to be in line with the policies and strategies outlined in the 12th Malaysia Plan, with RM233.5 billion allocated for operating expenditure, RM75.6 billion for development and RM23 billion to the country’s Covid-19 fund.
With that, the nation’s recovery strategy is laser focused on creating job opportunities and providing extra support in promoting employment. Acknowledging the severe impact of Covid-19, an allocation of RM2 billion will be set aside under the Jamin Kerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative. This is to incentivize the hiring of those unemployed, as well as providing wage subsidies for employers who hire targeted groups of Malaysians.
Specifically, for employers who hire Malaysians that have not been actively employed in jobs with a salary of RM1500 and above, they can receive wage subsidies of up to 20 percent of the monthly salary for the first 6 months. Subsequently, an additional 30 percent wage subsidy will be presented for another 6 months.
For employers who provide employment opportunities for Malaysians categorized as disabled or are ex-convicts, employers will receive an additional 10% in wage subsidies of the monthly salary for jobs with a salary of RM1200 and above. Another notable positive move is extending this initiative to women who have been unemployed for more than 365 days, single mothers and housewives. All these efforts are to boost Malaysia’s employment opportunities for their citizens. Under the Jarmin Kerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz announced that approximately 600,000 job opportunities will be created in the process.
With this hiring initiative, the Malaysia Budget 2022 aims to help Malaysian citizens in the transition back into the workforce. At the same time, this assists businesses in their search for talent.
References:
https://www.pwc.com/my/en/issues/budget2022.html
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2021/10/740880/600000-jobs-under-jaminkerja-initiative-nsttv
