Deputy Human Resources Minister Ismail Abdul Muttalib said an employment contract can be terminated in two ways – termination of contract of service by the employer or through the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS).
“In 2015, 44,343 workers were dismissed, with 24,452 (55.1%) falling under the first category, while 19,891 (44.9%) had opted for VSS.
“Since January to September this year, 31,476 workers were dismissed from work, with 17,051 (54.2%) workers’ services terminated by their employer while 14,425 (45.8%) opted for VSS,” he said.
He was responding to a question from Mastura Mohd Yazid (BN-Kuala Kangsar) in the Dewan Rakyat.
Mastura had asked the Ministry to reveal the numbers of employees terminated from work due to the global economic uncertainties.
Ismail said the sectors which terminated the most number of workers were from the finance and insurance sectors (17,568 people), manufacturing sector (9,203 people), as well as transport and storage sectors (6,512 people).
He said some of the reasons for the termination of work were unstable financial market, closure of businesses, change in ownership of companies and rationalisation process, among others.
“We sympathise with the employees and the ministry has taken various initiatives to ensure that the workers are able to find other work opportunities.
“This includes conducting career and job fairs nationwide,” he said.