ALTHOUGH the flexibility offered by the gig economy has encouraged more Malaysians to be self-employed during recent years, the Covid-19 pandemic reveals the vulnerability of the social protection system in Malaysia.
With various lockdown measures introduced in the country, more self-employed have been struggling to sustain their business operations.
As many businesses were forced to close temporarily when the Movement Control Order (MCO) commenced in early March last year, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) revealed in their survey findings that 46.6pc of the self-employed lost their jobs. Only 5pc of self-employed in Malaysia had enough savings to last for at least three months.
Unlike a typical employee who earns a consistent monthly salary, self-employed individuals have to find numerous sources of income to cope with the rising cost of living.
Traditional employees also could save more as they are eligible to receive fixed bonuses at the end o
Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan told StarBiz that 2021 has to take into account the 2020 cohort that are coming out of the education system.
PETALING JAYA: The worsening Covid-19 situation that has triggered a second round of movement control order (MCO) in Malaysia has once again cast the spotlight on unemployment.
Businesses are staring at a road full of uncertainties ahead even with the hint of vaccine optimism and as it is, unemployment in 2021 remains jittery.
Many are worried that this MCO, with its possible extensions, would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
With the expectations of an economic reset as soon as a massive inoculation can be carried out with the Covid-19 vaccine availability, Malaysia has a herculean task on its shoulders, which is to deal with 764,400 that are currently unemployed and possibly around one million new entrants to the job market.
14 Jan 2021 / 09:03 H.
PUTRAJAYA, Jan 13: Policy interventions on supply and demand of the labour market through the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA), and the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (PRIHATIN), have contributed to job retention, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.
He said that policy interventions through the stimulus packages include the Wage Subsidy Programme, Employment Incentives, Employment Retention Programme and Employment Insurance Scheme (EIS) Plus, as well as other initiatives by departments and agencies under his ministry.
Saravanan said the ‘Quarterly Labour Market Perspectives: Growth and Labour Market Recovery Report’ for the third quarter of 2020 showed economic performance and labour market conditions in the first to third quarter last year, according to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and job placement, were moving in tandem.
The Straits Times
Many businesses had already used up their savings during the previous round of lockdowns in 2020.PHOTO: REUTERS
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