NIBONG TEBAL: A total of 4,105 former prisoners have successfully reintegrated into society through the Social Security Organisation’s (Socso) career-matching program from 2020 to July 2024.
Human Resources Minister Steven Sim highlighted that the initiative supports national efforts to reduce reliance on foreign labour by tapping into local talent, including rehabilitated individuals.
The manufacturing, construction, agriculture, food services, and wholesale and retail trade sectors have absorbed the highest number of these job seekers.
Sim noted that Malaysia’s workforce comprises 16.78 million people, with foreign workers making up 13.7 per cent of the total.
“This underscores the need to utilise local potential inclusively, including former inmates,“ he said during the MYFutureJobs Career and Entrepreneurship Carnival at the Seberang Perai Prison Complex.
The event, a collaboration between Socso and the Prisons Department, featured 20 employers offering 1,080 vacancies.
Nine public and private agencies also provided entrepreneurship programs.
Since 2020, Socso’s Daya Kerjaya program has placed 2,604 individuals in jobs, with RM12 million disbursed in employer incentives.
Sim emphasised the government’s commitment through the Active Labour Market Stimulus Policy, which offers RM600 monthly for three months to employers hiring ex-convicts.
Socso also signed an MoU with six industry associations to expand job opportunities for rehabilitated individuals.
Present at the event were Prisons Commissioner-General Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Razak, Socso Chairman Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal, and CEO Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed. – Bernama
