HR Ministry says 77,988 M'sians retrenched from March to Oct 16

KUALA LUMPUR: As many as 77,988 Malaysians from various occupations were retrenched from March to Oct 16 this year, based on data from the Employment Insurance System (EIS), says the Human Resources Ministry.

According to the Ministry, records by the EIS showed that the figure consisted of 11,584 in the managerial category, 22,647 in the professional category, as well as 17,019 under the technical and professional category.

The others consisted of 7,786 in the support staff and clerical work category, while 10,423 were retrenched in the sales and services category.

The figures were given by the Ministry in a Parliamentary written reply, in response to Datuk Mohd Fasiah Mohd Fakeh (Bersatu - Sabak Bernam), who asked for the numbers of those retrenched from March to Oct this year.

Fasiah also asked the ministry to state the effectiveness of the Hiring Incentive Programme (HIP) and steps taken by the government to assist workers who were given unpaid leave.

The Human Resources Ministry said the government had introduced the Employment Retention Programme (ERP) to encourage employers to retain their workers, particularly those asked to take unpaid leave.

The Ministry also said that under the Wage Subsidy Programme, as many as 331,950 employers involving 2.7 million workers had received payouts totalling to RM11.9bil up till Oct 16 this year.