Malaysia’s 2022 budget to focus on job creation

This was announced by finance minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, who said one of the government’s priorities will be to introduce the Jamin Kerja Keluarga Malaysia (JaminKerja) initiative that targets to create 600,000 jobs.

About RM4.8 billion (US$1.16 billion) will be budgeted for the JaminKerja.

“Based on record, the unemployment rate now is at 4.6%, which is better compared to 5.3% last May, but this is still high. That’s why we announced the JaminKerja initiative, which shows that we are serious about and focused on creating job opportunities for everyone, including fresh university graduates,” he said in a television interview.

The minister said that up to September, more than 40,000 new jobs had been created and the government is confident of achieving its target of creating 500,000 jobs this year.

“All these initiatives are necessary because the people have been badly affected due to the pandemic. Only the creation of jobs can help them get out of this predicament,” he said.

The Insentif Penggajian JaminanKerja (JaminKerja Employment Incentive) – a sub-programmes under the JaminKerja initiative – has been allocated RM2 billion (US$482.5 million). Under this initiative, he said, the government would provide incentives for employers who hire the unemployed. 

“We also encourage employers to provide employment opportunities to focus groups, like persons with disabilities (PwD), Orang Asli and former inmates, with incentives,” he said. 

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In addition, under the JaminKerja initiative, the government would also continue the MySTEP Programme by creating 80,000 contract employment opportunities, covering 50,000 jobs in the public sector and 30,000 jobs in government-linked companies (GLCs) from January next year, according to Bernama.