SEREMBAN: A total of 718 people in Negeri Sembilan lost their jobs between March 18 and July 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Legislative Assembly was told today.
Human Resources, Plantations and Non-Muslim Affairs Committee chairman J. Arul Kumar (pix) said 555 of them are Malaysians while 163 of them are migrant workers.
Eleven employers were forced to close down their businesses during that period, he said when replying to a question from Datuk L. Manickam (BN-Jeram Padang) at the supplementary budget session.
âBased on information from the Statistics Department of Malaysia, the rate of unemployment in the first quarter of 2020 was 3.3 per cent and the number of jobless people was 16,800. In the second quarter, it was 3.5 per cent and 18,200, respectively,â he said.
Arul Kumar, who is the assemblyman for Nilai, said the state government and agencies associated with employment had identified several employers and large companies that offered jobs in an attempt to reduce the rate of unemployment.
He also said that the state government plans to hold a job fair next month.âBernama
