PENJANA to benefit employers, employees - Associations

Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) which allocated RM5 billion in wages subsidy to 2.8 million employees with RM600 per month for three months would encourage employers to retain their employees.

"However the government should consider a longer period as the lingering negative impact of COVID-19 may extend to next year. The government should also consider allocating more funds for the wages subsidy," he said in a statement yesterday while applauding the government's incentive.

He said the announcement would encourage employers to employ the unemployed and youths as the government had allocated RM1.5 billion for the Employee Incentive Programme to benefit an estimated 300,000 job seekers, especially professionals under 40 years old and unemployed over 40 years old and people with disabilities.

"The training incentives that were announced would encourage employers to engage the unemployed and youths and provide them with the necessary skills and knowledge, especially in information technology as this is in line with the Industrial Revolution 4.0.

"We are pleased that workers in the gig economy would be given social protection under SOCSO and EPF. This would ensure that the gig worker would be covered for unemployment injury and also provide them with some savings during their old age," he added.

Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (CUEPACS) president Adnan Mat urged all civil servants regardless of position to devote 100 per cent of their commitment to assisting the government's efforts.

This is because, he said, civil servants are the backbone of national development, and the public service sector needs to work with the private sector as the prosperity of the country achieved today is the contribution from both sectors.

Meanwhile, Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA) deputy president Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman said there are also packages in PENJANA for the general public to enjoy.

"For example the MY30 Programme for public transport where people pay RM1 a day using public transport," he said.

Malaysian Film Producers Association (PFM) president Pansha hopes the RM255 million application for the arts sector through MyCreative Ventures and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) can be simplified without imposing burdensome requirements.