In getting the unemployed into the Malaysian workforce especially in the digital space, MDEC has announced an enhancement to the MyDigitalWorkforce Work in Tech (MYWiT), a hiring and training incentive programme by giving employers additional incentives.
Introduced under Kumpulan Wang COVID-19, the subsidy programme involves a RM100 million fund from the Ministry of Finance to support the program, which aims to incentivise employers to hire unemployed Malaysians via training and salary subsidies.
“The discrepancy between the skills that are sought by employers and existing skillset possessed by the local workforce is an important issue that should be addressed if we want to be at the forefront of the digital economy. The effort must address talent and skills mismatch, as the incentive emphasises on developing talents through reskilling and upskilling programmes said Mahadhir Aziz the newly appointed MDEC CEO.
MYWiT is targeting companies that are offering digital tech and services roles, in line with the national goal of creating 500,000 new jobs for the rakyat by 2025 as outlined in the MyDIGITAL.
With MYWiT’s enhancement, companies are eligible to apply for employment made between 5 April 2021 and 30 April 2022, with the addition of more simplified eligibility criteria and processes, giving companies a faster approval timeframe and greater inclusivity via less restrictive requirements as well as simplifying the incentive structure based on feedback from the industry.
The updated incentive structure covers 40 percent of the employee’s monthly salary for six months (minimum salary of RM2,000) and is capped at RM2,600 per individual per month. In addition, hiring companies are also eligible to receive up to RM5,000 for in-house training for each employed person or up to RM8,000 for training by third-party providers.
Accumulatively, companies stand to obtain incentives worth up to RM23,600 for each person trained and employed.
However, those approved will have to select training programmes that are listed on MDEC’s Digital Skills Training Directory. Courses listed on the directory have been reviewed and endorsed by digital tech industry practitioners and are also consistent with the national Digital Tech Industry Skills Frameworks.
The Digital Skills Training Directory currently lists more than 300 courses in areas such as FinTech, data science, cybersecurity, software development, game development, animation and digital global business services.
Participating employers are expected to offer a minimum 12-month employment to Malaysian citizens who are unemployed. These may include fresh graduates, retrenched employees or those who have been unemployed for more than two months.
The incentive is eligible for a wide range of jobs that require digital tech skills as well as jobs that support digital global business services. These include jobs such as software developer, cybersecurity analyst, data scientist, content moderation, customer experience and many more.
