KUALA LUMPUR: The 'JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia' initiative supports the goal of reducing the country's unemployment rate by creating 600,000 job opportunities this year with an allocation of RM4.8 billion, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said the initiative, themed 'Keluarga Malaysia, Makmur Sejahtera' ( A Prosperous Malaysian Family), was in line with the creation of job opportunities which was the main thrust under the 2022 Budget.

"The JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia is a manifestation of the government's commitment in providing more comprehensive employment opportunities and producing more sustainable economic development as well as driving the country's recovery efforts in a structured manner and contributing towards strengthening the country's labour market," he said.

He said this at the launching of the JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia initiative and JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia Career Carnival 2022 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) here today.

Also present were Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

The Prime Minister said JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia consists of three main programmes, namely the JaminKerja Incentive Employment, to be implemented by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) which targeted 300,000 job opportunities.

In addition, the Malaysia Short-term Employment Programme (MySTEP) which offers 80,000 job opportunities in the public sector, government-linked companies (GLCs) and strategic partners.

Meanwhile, the third programme, training and upskilling (Upskill Malaysia), implemented by HRD Corp, will provide skills training for job seekers to increase their marketability as well as guarantee job placement with a target of 220,000 trainees.

In the meantime, he said, the JaminKerja Employment incentive will focus on efforts to encourage employers to recruit new employees, especially among the unemployed, vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, ex-soldiers, ex-prisoners, senior citizens, and women, for extended periods to ensure no group is marginalised.

He said once employers were given incentives for hiring, job seekers could use the MYFutureJobs portal to get job matches and fill vacancies offered.

"Incentives will also be given to employers who hire local workers for positions usually filled by foreign workers or expatriates," he said.

Ismail Sabri said eligible employers would receive government financial assistance of between 20 to 40 per cent of the employee's maximum gross salary, or RM10,000 for a period of 12 months.

For the MySTEP programme, he said, it was targeting 80,000 contract job opportunities covering 50,000 posts in the public sector and the rest in GLCs this year.

With an allocation of RM1.7 billion, MySTEP will be led by the Economic Stimulus Implementation and Coordination Unit Between National Agencies (LAKSANA), under the Ministry of Finance, which will implement strategic collaborations with other government agencies.

At the same time, the Prime Minister said, the Ministry of Human Resources will hold 312 open interview programmes and job carnivals throughout the year.