Saravanan confident unemployment won’t hit 1 million

KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri M. Saravanan is confident that Malaysia’s unemployment figure will not hit a million this year, revising downwards an earlier projection made in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The human resources minister told reporters here today that the jobless trend is making an about-turn, and cited the latest round of government aid announced last week.

“The number (of unemployed Malaysians) is decreasing. And with the additional RM2.4 billion (for the Wage Subsidy Programme), the number will not grow. I think it will be lower.

“When I said previously that it was going to reach a million by year-end, there were no subsidies. It was based purely on the market.”

On September 23, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced an additional RM10 billion worth of aid to boost economic recovery, including RM7 billion under Bantuan Prihatin Nasional 2.0 and RM2.4 billion for the Wage Subsidy Programme.

This is on top of the close to RM300 billion allocated for stimulus packages rolled out to cushion the economic blow from the pandemic.

The Statistics Department recently said the unemployment rate fell to 4.7% as of July after a record high of 5.3% in May and a decline to 4.9% the following month.

Currently, the number of Malaysians out of a job stands at 745,100.

In a Mingguan Malaysia interview last month, Saravanan warned that the number of unemployed citizens could hit a million, taking into account 350,000 fresh graduates and a further 200,000 Malaysians returning from abroad.

To tackle graduate unemployment, he said, the ministry will embark on nationwide roadshows to help them find jobs.

“We have also introduced various incentives. And, there is the gig economy.

“With all this in place, I believe we can do well.”

On the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services’ (Cuepacs) call for bonuses to be given to all civil servants, following a Malaysian Academic Association Council proposal for such payments to be made based on merit and sector, Saravanan said Putrajaya must first determine whether it can afford to do this.

“It’s too early to give comments now. Under Muhyiddin’s leadership, we are trying our very best to help every Malaysian. If we have extra, we will give. We want to give back to the rakyat.

“Cuepacs can hold on to its view, but let us study our financial standing first.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Cuepacs president Adnan Mat said giving bonuses based on merit and sector may lead to a lack of motivation among civil servants who do not qualify. – The Vibes, October 1, 2020