Govt pledges to provide 600,000 job opportunities this year, says PM

KUALA LUMPUR: The government pledges to reduce the unemployment rate by providing 600,000 job opportunities this year through the JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Ismail Sabri said these were provided with the allocation of RM4.8bil as job creation was a key thrust under Budget 2022.

"The government is also committed to help the entrepreneur community that hire and create job opportunities in order that they can continue to grow and rebuild their business through the Semarak Niaga initiative worth RM40bil," he said in his speech during the launch of the JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative themed "Keluarga Malaysia, Makmur Sejahtera" at the KL Convention Centre on Saturday (Feb 19).

The Jaminkerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative was a collaboration between the Finance Ministry, Economic Implementation and National Strategic Coordination Agency (Laksana), Human Resource Ministry as well as the Social Security Organisation (Socso), and the Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp).

Ismail Sabri said that the initiative consists of three main programmes.

He said these were the Employment Initiative that would be implemented by Socso with the target of providing about 300,000 job opportunities, and Malaysia Short-term Employment Programme (MySTEP) that would offer 80,000 job opportunities in the public sector, government link companies, strategic partners as well as JaminKerja.

He added this would also include the Upskill Malaysia programme that would be implemented by HRD Corp by providing practical skills training for job seekers to improve their marketability and for there to be a guaranteed job placement with a target of 220,000 trainees.

"The JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative is the manifestation of the government's commitment to provide more employment opportunities and to develop a more sustainable economic development to drive the country’s recovery efforts in a structured manner and to contribute towards the strengthening of the national labour market.

"Malaysia is on the right track in its economic recovery efforts through the creation of more employment opportunities to fulfil the needs of the labour market.

"I, as the National Employment Council (NEC) chairman, am confident that the efforts of the NEC in enhancing the momentum of job creation as well as boosting the job market will be able to continue through the JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative which in turn will also strengthen the Keluarga Malaysia household income especially the unprivileged group, B40 and M40," he said.