Malaysia’s work subsidy programme retains 2.96 million jobs

The overall programme will help keep 2.96 million local workers employed in an effort to reduce unemployment rate among Malaysians, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz in the 93rd People’s Financial Report.

WSP is a RM1,200 (US$277) subsidy given to employers who employ local workers with salaries of RM4,000 (US$924) and below to support the businesses during the pandemic and avoid layoffs.

For WSP 1.0, a total of 322,177 employers have applied for the initiative, amounting to RM12.96 billion (US$3.0 billion) worth of subsidies that have been approved to retain 2.64 million workers. 

Under WSP 2.0 and WSP 3.0, 81,136 employers and 162,282 employers have received RM1.41 billion (US$326 million) and RM3.74 billion (US$864 million), respectively to retain their local workforce. 

WSP 4.0 saw RM2.48 billion (US$573 million) channeled to 160,260 employers to maintain its operations and WSP 5.0 had 6,789 applications from employers to retain 79,508 workers, amounting to RM98.66 million (US$22.8 million).

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In addition, the government urged small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to apply for the low carbon transition facility (LCTF) to promote sustainability in their operations, according to The Malaysian Reserve.