PETALING JAYA: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) has allocated more than RM313mil to implement five national social protection and five active labour market programme initiatives for this year.
Following the revised Budget 2023 announcement, its chief executive Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said they are committed to carrying out the government’s initiatives to reinforce the local labour market.
“As part of the budget contribution matching assistance programme, three more sectors namely sports, education and agent have been included under the Self-Employment Social Security Scheme (SKSPS).
“This is because only 34% of 2.1 million self-employed individuals have joined the SKSPS.
“An allocation of RM100mil has been set aside to benefit more than 540,000 self-employed Malaysians,” he said in a statement on Sunday (Feb 26).
For the Child Care Grant for Women Returning to Work, a one-month grant equivalent to 80% of the insured monthly salary is provided to 136,800 women post-maternity.
This involves payment of RM292mil a year, whereby the mothers will be assisted via MYFutureJobs Placement Programme.
A total of RM25mil for 338,000 housewives from poor households has been allocated for one year under the Housewives Social Security Scheme (SKSSR).
As of Feb 24, 168,350 housewives are protected under the scheme, whereby 161,254 are registered under eKasih and have contributed as i-Suri.
He also said KerjayaTVET will provide a RM600 incentive for a three-month period to employers hiring technical and vocational education training (TVET) graduates through a RM44mil fund.
“Some 17,000 TVET graduates are set to benefit from this via MYFutureJobs.
“In order to avoid mismatch issues, KerjayaTVET will focus on ‘place and train’ programmes so that employers can send these hired graduates to undergo competency-based training conducted by government-approved trainers,” he said.
According to the Statistics Department, 97.7% of gig workers in Malaysia are youths.
The government has allocated RM56mil for 30,000 workers to increase their potential in obtaining a formal job.
The Bina Kerjaya programme will provide a RM500 allowance for a three-month period for gig riders who are actively undergoing skill training in order to secure stable jobs in formal sectors.
A Training Fee Payment Subsidy will be given to gig workers undergoing micro-credential courses at both public and private universities.
With a fund of RM72 mil, the Daya Kerjaya Program is expected to benefit 40,000 people with an incentive of RM 600 per month for three months given to employers who hire employees from the target group, he added.
Socso will also be implementing a Health Screening Program with a fund of RM70mil as a measure to prevent non-communicable diseases among employees.
This initiative is open to over 2.3 million contributors aged 40 and above, under the Disability Scheme.
RM8mil has been set aside for the upgrading of the Urban Transformation Centres across the country with MYFutureJobs satellite centres to provide employment services, he said.