As the 34-year-old waited for job offers, he uprooted his family to Tanah Merah, Kelantan, to save money.

“While I was compensated by the company, it wasn’t much. It was enough to feed my family for a few months,” Aizat, who has a one-year-old son, told FMT.

“And I still had a housing and car loan which I needed to settle.”

Fortunately for him, the company, which he had been in for 10 years, had contributed to the Employment Insurance Scheme (EIS).

The EIS, under the Social Security Organisation (Socso), offers unemployment benefits and job search assistance should anyone lose their job for reasons such as retrenchment and redundancy.

Under this scheme, individuals like Aizat are eligible for allowances totalling 80% of their last drawn salary in the first month and 50% in the second month.

For the third and fourth month, Aizat would receive 40% of his last drawn salary and 30% in the fifth and sixth month.

He said while his monthly contribution was not more than RM20, what he got in return after he was retrenched “was more than that”.

“This allowed me to service my housing loan and lessen the financial burden, especially when it came to buying essentials, including formula milk,” Aizat, who sold light snacks and pillows to eke out a living, said.

He said his first allowance was credited 14 days after he applied for it in April.

All it needed was for him to prove that he was actively job-hunting, which Aizat had done via portals of government agencies, including through the Malaysia Short-term Employment Programme (MyStep).

In October, Aizat secured a job with the Tanah Merah welfare department, although he still sells snacks and pillows on the side.

“I am very grateful. After the allowances from Socso ended in September, I was offered a job under the MyStep scheme,” he said.

Under Budget 2022, the scheme has been expanded to include non-Socso contributors. They will receive RM300 in allowance for three months. The government had allocated RM300 million for this initiative.