By Norrasyidah Arshad
SHAH ALAM, Nov 20 — A total of 27,234 individuals in Selangor have lost their jobs from January to October this year, says the Selangor Social Security Organisation (Socso).
Its director Mustafa Draman said the figure was based on the number of applicants for the Employment Insurance System (EIS), which assists individuals in getting back up on their feet and disburse temporary cash support.
“The EIS application rose beginning March which saw the highest number of applications of 18,579. The Covid-19 outbreak, which led to the implementation of the movement control order (MCO), had caused many to lose their source of income.
“However starting from July onwards, the numbers began to reduce until last month,” he said to SelangorKini today.
Mustafa said the programmes and initiatives launched by the government, such as incentives given to employers to retain their workers or offer employment opportunities, had reduced the number of EIS applications.
“Employers started taking in workers which led to the opening of the industry and business sectors. This safeguards employment opportunities.
“Socso Selangor also provides support to the state government by organising programmes as a way of helping those unemployed to get back on their feet,” he said.
Following the Covid-19 crisis, Selangor has launched several initiatives which include an RM100.7million allocation for the digital sector to create new employment opportunities and retaining existing jobs.
The state government also organised various programmes to help the people in generating income. This includes the e-Kitchen, e-Bazaar Raya Selangor, the 11.11 Selangor e-Bazaar 11.11 as well as the Jelajah Selangor Bekerja 2020.
