WEAK implementation is a bane to the Government’s unwavering initiatives to help the local populace to secure jobs.
Trainers Asia executive director Alan Hoo told FocusM that to date, there are many unemployed or retrenched individuals who had benefited from the initiatives. And so do a number of employers from the wage subsidy programme.
“And because we do deal with the respected agencies, we know that although the policies are there but the implementation seems to be weak.
“For example, different officers handling the same situation will have different outcomes. And the time taken for such process, sometimes is just way too long to be of any good to the jobless.
“Some of the conditions and criteria can be too rigid. People who have lost their jobs can only apply for the Employment Insurance Scheme (EIS) within two months of termination.
“Any longer than that, they are deemed not qualified,” said Hoo.
He commented that the whole purpose of the initiative was to reduce the number of unemployment and limit EIS applications.
On the Social Security Organisation (Socso), Hoo said the former has put in good effort, and their Penjana and EIS schemes are helping a fair number of people.
Having said that, there are some weaknesses that should be ironed out too, Hoo pointed out.
For example, Hoo said the Government agencies should speed up application processing and be more flexible with the jobless for them to apply for the unemployment scheme.
“They must remember that the main objective is to help the unemployed and those who were retrenched,” he added. – Jan 5, 2021.
