HULU SELANGOR, Sept 12 — About 47,332 job seekers nationwide have obtained employment through the Hiring Incentive Programme (PenjanaKerjaya) since it started on June 15 until Thursday, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

He said the total recruitment involved 7,196 employers registered with the PenjanaKerjaya created to reduce the unemployment rate and revive the country’s economy.

“A total of 8,045 job seekers in Selangor have managed to get jobs through this programme. Therefore, I call on more employers to register with PenjanaKerjaya and the national employment portal MYFutureJobs to help Malaysians looking for work,” he said.

He said this in a press conference at the Human Resources Ministry’s Hulu Selangor PenjanaKerjaya 2020 Carnival here, today. At the carnival, more than 6,500 jobs were on offer.

He said based on the Social Security Organisation (Socso) Employment Insurance System (EIS) statistics, as of last Thursday 79,737 workers nationwide had lost their livelihoods.

Saravanan said since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country, the 3.3 per cent unemployment rate recorded in February rose to 5.3 per cent in May.

“However, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 per cent in June after most economic sectors reopened during the Recovery movement control order (RMCO) thus reflecting the early recovery of the national employment market,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said the Human Resources Ministry via the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) together with the Home Ministry was discussing providing special training for foreigners working as security guards.

Saravanan said the Human Resources Ministry represented by its Secretary-General Datuk Jamil Rakon would detail on the scope of work of domestic security services.

“Recently, there was a case of a security guard (foreigner) being beaten by an individual. If they can’t take care of themselves, how can they take care of us?” he said.

In July, a 44-second video went viral on social media showing a man slapping and beating a security guard, believed to be a foreigner, with a stick. — Bernama