24,600 private sector employees laid off as of Sept 30 this year

A total of 24,600 private sector employees were laid off as of Sept 30, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran (above) said of these, 21,625 involved ordinary termination, while 2,975 employees were in voluntary separation schemes (VSS).

The number of affected employees in the manufacturing sector was 7,944, administration and support services (7,309), commerce, wholesale and retail (2,123)​​​​​​, financial and insurance activities (1,748), and accommodations and food and beverage services activities (1,049).

Meanwhile, 679 employees in the information and communications sector were affected, he said during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.

Kulasegaran was replying to a question from Mustapa Mohamed who asked about the number of employees in all sectors whose services were terminated in 2018 and 2019, and the number of jobs which were created in 2019.

In 2018, Kulasegaran said the number of employees whose services were terminated was 23,168, of which 17,236 were ordinary terminations and 5,932 were through VSS.

On the number of jobs created, he said as of August, 50,326 vacancies were registered by employers for the graduate category, while there were 642,798 vacancies for non-graduate posts.

He added that more than 20,000 advertisements for various posts in all categories of jobs in the public and private sectors were put up by employers.

“The JobsMalaysia (JMC) portal under the ministry is the official portal for job search and offers,” he said, adding that it provided information on jobs and counselling services for job seekers

"Employers and job-seekers could also join the job carnivals held throughout the country, “ he said.

- Bernama