“Not every jobseeker that came to us for assistance was a blue-collar worker. We have professionals who were earning as high as SGD7,000 before they were laid off during the MCO,” said Johor MCA Government Coordinating Affairs Chairman, Michael Tay, when asked about the response of the public to the MCA Pandemic Task Force programme, a job matching campaign to pair the job with the right job applicant.
The programme was started nearly a fortnight ago to help Malaysians who were working in Singapore but lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Some were white-collar workers who lost their jobs and were contemplating being forklift operators, renovation contractors, lorry drivers, crane operators, painters, container workers and landscape workers, among others.
“We’ve successfully found jobs for accountants who were laid off in Singapore — even Singapore permanent residents have found jobs in Johor — and we are proud of our success in this respect,” Tay said.
“We would love to work with other NGOs and government bodies who share our goal, which is to find jobs for displaced Malaysian workers formerly employed in Singapore.
“The surprising thing is that our team of volunteers are receiving calls from jobseekers who are desperate to cling onto any jobs that they can find in Malaysia, and many were formerly paid huge salaries but they were prepared to accept lower wages in Malaysia, much lower than what they were getting in Singapore.
“We laud the work done by SOCSO Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman who has come up with various programmes to assist all Malaysians to look for jobs.
“Johor MCA is collaborating with Johor Indian Business Association and Johor Consumers Movement helmed by Mohd Salleh Sadijo, which have jointly formulated a system that matches jobseekers with jobs,” Tay said.
China Press reported that since the beginning of the year till August 18, 15,324 jobseekers nationwide have found new employment with the help of SOCSO and 1,310 of the jobseekers found new employment in Johor Bahru.
Meanwhile, Star reported that until August 12, the Socso Employment Insurance System (EIS) received 71,805 unemployment benefit claims due to the economic impact of Covid-19.
You can read my earlier posts Job Matching and MCA Pandemic Task Force if you want to know more about the Johor MCA’s job placement and training programme.
For those who have lost their jobs due to the closing of the border can download the
train-placement-registration-form
and submit the form back via email: pandemictaskforce.jobseekers@gmail.com or WhatsApp 017-201 8982.
Roam with Bee 
Leave a comment