KUALA LUMPUR | The number of people registered for a loss of employment this year under the Employment Insurance System (EIS) stood at 50,825 as of July 1, the Human Resource Ministry said today.

In a written reply to Datuk Abdullah Sani Abd Hamid (Kapar-PKR), the ministry said the EIS had paid out RM107.8 million to 66,204 claimants as of June 26, more than the sum of RM107.6 million claimed by 66,650 people for the whole of last year.

“The number of Malaysians who lost their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic as of July 1, 2020 is 50,825 people. The breakdown according to the employment sectors involved is as follows:

Manufacturing Sector, 11,432 or 23 per cent.

Accommodation and Food Service Activities Sector and Beverages, 7,497 or 15 per cent.

Wholesale and Retail Trade Sector, 7,129 or 14 per cent.

Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities, 4,546 or 9 per cent,” it said.

Abdullah had asked for the latest statistic for the EIS and how much of the funds were given to those who deserved it.

The reply also said that until June this year, 6.4 million workers have registered with EIS.

Meanwhile in another reply to M. Kulasegaran (Ipoh Barat-DAP), the ministry said the number of people who have lost their jobs has been doubling every month since the start of the movement control order (MCO) in March.

19,352 people lost their job in June, more than double the figure of 7,195 people in May.

The number of those who lost their job in April is 4,127 which is also double the figure of 1,791 in March.

“To date, a total of 36,196 people under 1,377 employers have lost their jobs.

“28,779 involve permanent retrenchment while 7,417 involve voluntary separation schemes,” said the reply.

The ministry said the retrenchment is the prerogative of the employers they should heed the guidelines given by the government.

The reply also asks the employers that in case of retrenchment, the foreign workers should be given the boot first than the local employees.

Yesterday, Human Resources Minister Datuk M. Saravanan told Parliament that the current unemployment rate for the country is 5.3 per cent but economic measures initiated by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government are starting to bear fruit in the labour market.

Citing data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia, Saravanan said that 12.7 million people or 83.5 per cent have started working again as at June 2 compared to 10.2 million or 67.2 per cent at May 7 during the recovery movement control period (RMCO) imposed by the government to curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

 

 

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