11 Mar 2021 / 20:44 H. Pix for representational purpose only.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) has disbursed more than RM14.1 billion in assistance to over 350,000 employers involving 2.7 million workers under various stimulus packages announced by the government during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
Its chief executive, Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said Socso was now continuing its efforts with five initiatives under Budget 2021 and the Malaysian Economic and Rakyat’s Protection Assistance Package (Permai) to ensure no one was left behind during this crisis.
“There’s PenjanaKerjaya which covers hiring incentive, training programmes and youth apprenticeship, extended Job Search Allowance (JSA) under the Employment Insurance System (EIS) and targeted Wage Subsidy Programme for the tourism and retail industry, which was also extended for one month to all employers affected by the implementation of the MCO (Movement Control Order).”
Socso CEO: Over RM14 1b in Covid-19 aid disbursed to 2 7 million workers | Malaysia malaymail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from malaymail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
I REFER to the report “CMCO eroding business cashflow, RAM survey says” (The Star, Dec 8; online at https://bit.ly/36X3LzP), which stated that the recovery paths of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro enterprises appear challenging in the absence of any brighter business prospects. To help these small businesses, it was suggested that they be given additional support to address their immediate challenges.
In my opinion as the owner of an SME, the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected SMEs harder than the first. This is because while the movement control order required all companies to stop operating, the conditional MCO allows us to operate but imposes many restrictions that prevent some, especially those involving face-to-face interactions with customers and require volume to thrive, from operating effectively.