The Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC) launched its newly improved Hiring Malaysian Workers Fund (HMWF) 2.0, officiated by YB Dr. Daroyah Alwi, Chairman of MRC, in Hilton Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
The fund was first initiated back in August 2020 during the height of COVID-19 pandemic when the industry was experiencing manpower shortage to meet the supply demands of rubber gloves around the world. Aimed at encouraging rubber product companies to hire more Malaysian workers and lessen the reliance on foreign labour in the industry, the HMWF is in line with the government’s policy of prioritising the creation of more job opportunities for Malaysians while addressing the manpower shortage issue.
“Today, HMWF 2.0 is an extended initiative over the previous edition with added advantages and will be extended to more stakeholders in the rubber industry. MRC has allocated a total budget of RM17.3 million, which would primarily serve the rubber industry’s employers, employees, as well as the smallholders”, said Nor Hizwan Ahmad, CEO of MRC.
On March this year, MRC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pertubuhan Keselamatan Sosial (PERKESO) as a strategic partner in this endeavour to encourage more employers from the rubber industry to hire Malaysian workers.
Hiring employers and the hired Malaysian employees will be able to benefit from the HMWF 2.0 through the reimbursement of the cost of PERKESO and Employment Insurance System (EIS) contributions made for the employees and made by the employees respectively. These reimbursements are for two-year duration. Besides that, RM1,000 worth of one-off mobility assistance will also be provided to employees who migrated more than 50 kilometres to another location for work.
MRC has also allocated 10.2% or RM1.77 million from the total budget for 38,000 smallholders registered under the Malaysian Rubber Board to be insured under the PERKESO’s one-year coverage of self-employed insurance scheme.
“As a responsible agency embracing EESG, HMWF 2.0 is our initiative to assist the rubber industry stakeholders during difficult time and their recovery from COVID- 19 impacts. We hope that the extension of HMWF 2.0 would be beneficial to the wellbeing of the related stakeholders in the rubber industry nationwide”, added Nor Hizwan.
Nor Hizwan is also confident that this initiative will help to boost the country’s economic growth which will indirectly encourages young people, particularly those applying for their first job, to consider joining the rubber industry in the future.
