LETTERS – The year 2021 is almost ending, and it seems like it is a year of recap, review and repeat of what was terrible in 2020. The Delta variation has wreaked havoc and we have had another change of government.
While the vaccine drive is promising, we cannot relax at this time with the rise of another variant and waning vaccine effectivity.
Other than that, things did not go well for the labour market last year. Underemployment because of overeducation mismatch rose to a record 1.8 million people, an increase of 18.9 per cent due to weak market performance and the necessity to take up any work.
The median and mean salary also declined last year to RM2,062 and RM2,933, respectively, lower than the 2017 level.
In circumstances like this, people tend to look the government to improve economic performance by giving jobs. The government- probably the single largest employer with 1.6 million workforce – is no stranger to the job market.
Since permanent positions are hard to get, the government offers a lot of generous temporary positions under the Malaysian Short-Term Employment Programme (MySTEP).
This year, a total of 65,000 positions have been filled in ministries and agencies, as well as government -linked agencies, with a RM700 Million allocation.
For those who are unware, the idea of MYSTEP might seem like a progressive idea of the Federal Job Guarantee, the bold idea that the government is guaranteeing jobs for those who need to work.
Except that it is not, and in some aspects, it is a regression from its predecessor, the Pekerja Sambilan Harian (PSH) programme.
A deeper look into the programme will show that a degree-level wage of RM2,000 (inclusive of Employees Provident Fund/Social Security Organisation contributions) is relatively lower than PSH’s RM100 per day.
Those under MySTEP are also not entitled to travelling claims unlike in PSH. A wage of RM2,000, one may argue, is relatively low and far from the dignified wage a degree holder, who has undergone through three to five years of tertiary education, ought to get.
I comprehend that since times are hard, most likely the wage is lowered to enable more individuals to be hired.
But, on another level, this is a alumni level work and they ought to do an alumni level work and receive commensurate salary, or else, it will just be underutilization or an exploitation of their skills, depending on the kind of work they do.
A rate of RM1,800 to RM2,000 seems to be normal for an alumni entry level and I have heard stories that a private company would just pay that much of salary rather than paying RM2,500 to RM3,000 since the government pays RM2,000 for an alumni level position.
Obviously, that is an interesting question for labour economists to find the effect of mass short-term public employment salary on private work.
The government has announced the continuation of MySTEP with RM1.8 billion allocation for 80,000 positions. This is more than 20 per cent increase in employment target with 157 per cent increase in allocation.
So could there be good news on this? I would be frustrated if the alumni level short-term employment salary does not, at least, reach RM2,700.
The point is, employment, be it temporary or permanent, ought to be paid beyond the poverty wage so that employees can live in dignity.
Source: M Qayum Atari (NST.COM.MY)
