KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 2,546 participants of the Malaysia Short-term Employment Programme (MySTEP) have been successfully placed in the public sector and government-linked companies (GLCs) as of March 17.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said of the total, 1,833 had been placed in the public sector and 713 others were placed in GLCs and their strategic partners.

"MySTEP offers 80,000 contract work opportunities involving 50,000 jobs in the public sector and 30,000 in GLCs and strategic partners, starting January 2022," he said in the People's Financial Report released today.

Since the programme began in January 2021, MySTEP participants have been placed in various ministries, agencies and GLCs, including the Finance Ministry, Higher Education Ministry, the Public Service Commission, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Petronas, Permodalan Nasional Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund.

Tengku Zafrul said the programme had exceeded its 2021 target of providing 50,000 job opportunities, placing 63,221 contract workers in the public sector and GLCs and strategic partners.

"The ministry has also set up the MySTEP portal to improve the application and hiring process, which was officially launched on Feb 19, 2022.

"Those who wish to participate in the programme only need to upload their resume and submit their application through the portal," he said.

Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said 42,014 workers have been hired under the JaminKerja wage incentive as of March 15.

Under the initiative, the government will provide eligible employers with a hiring incentive of 20 per cent of the workers' monthly salary for the first six months and 30 per cent for the next six months, on the condition that the workers' monthly salary is RM1,500 and above.

-- BERNAMA