Labour dept works to get jobs for homeless

27 April 2010 , By The Star

The Labour Department's effort to recruit homeless job seekers will be implemented nationwide, says director-general Datuk Sheikh Yahya Sheikh Mohamed.

He said that the pilot-project, started in Kuala Lumpur in February, had, so far, found employment for 40 homeless people.

"We aim to initiate the move to other states based on the number of homeless people.

"We will study the needs for each state before implementing it," he told pressmen after launching the Iskandar Malaysia Career Expo 2010 in Danga City Mall here Saturday.

Sheikh Yahya said that the department had identified some 200 homeless people in Kuala Lumpur, but not all of them were eligible for work placements.

"We are bringing the employers with us on our rounds and directly recruiting them to their respective jobs.

"Among the jobs offered, so far, are as security guards, restaurant helpers and other posts in the manufacturing industry," he said.

He also announced that the department aimed to find jobs for 100,000 'rakyat' this year based on various initiatives such as career carnivals as well as job-matching efforts.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Yahya said that employers in Iskandar Malaysia should improve the level of wages offered to prospective job seekers.

"There is still room for improvement for employers in Iskandar Malaysia.

"They must offer better and more attractive wages in order to compete with employers from Singapore," he said adding that, there were quire a number of locals working in the island republic.

However, he was confident that the level of wages would increase once more companies participated in the economic region, as competition would be stiffer.

On the career expo, Sheikh Yahya said that he was proud to see more than 3,000 people visited the event on its first day Saturday.

He explained that the total 1,800 jobs offered by 48 different companies would surely receive positive responses from job seekers.