PETALING JAYA, Aug 24: Kitakerja.my, a social initiative focusing on matching Malaysian jobseekers in the Bottom-40 (“B40”) income bracket to domestic employers, is calling for more Malaysians to join hands in building an ecosystem of jobseekers and employers while at the same time assisting in the economic recovery one job at a time.
Kitakerja.my is the brainchild of two young Malaysians pooling their resources together to help fellow Malaysians in the B40 bracket without jobs.
“Over the past 18 months, our whole nation has been focused on two numbers, COVID-19 new cases and death rates, but there is another number that has slipped into our lives without many people realising it, and that is the nation’s unemployment rate, ”Kitakerja.my co-founder Choong En Han (pictured above, on the right) said in a statement.
There are more than 770,000 unemployed Malaysians now in the country according to the Department of Statistics June 2021 report.
It was also reported that about 100,000 Malaysians lost their jobs last year due to the pandemic, according to former Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan in a report dated on Dec 9 last year.
“We started kitakerja.my to give unemployed Malaysians primarily in the B40 income bracket a platform in which they can be matched to jobs offered by employers.
“Jobs have become scarcer given all the lockdowns we have endured since March 2020.
“Together with employers and jobseekers, we can assist each other in our own way, help the economy to recover and progress, one job at a time.
“We have seen firsthand how severely businesses have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Retrenching employees is always the last resort for any businesses.
“We want to do our part in helping Malaysians affected by the pandemic to rebuild their lives, particularly those in the B40 group who are most vulnerable to financial shocks,” Choong added.
“We need to act now and be a part of the solution and be the movement for a better Malaysia, otherwise, Malaysian household income levels will continue to deteriorate.”
“Our resources are limited and we really need the help of fellow Malaysians who have the skills to help us build, promote and develop this initiative.
Currently, kitakerja.my is matching jobseekers and employers manually but we are seeking solutions to automate the process, ” he said.
Mohd Nizam Abdul Rahim (pictured, right), fellow co-founder who mooted the initiative with Choong said: “Many are suffering silently, but it should not be this way.
“Malaysians should come together this time with the aim to rebuild the nation as we celebrate the country’s 64th National Day.
“Hopefully employers that are hiring could give our fellow Malaysians a chance in getting employed.
“With jobseekers being employed, the multiplier effect of increased private consumption would kickstart and ultimately everyone wins in the country,” Nizam added.
Besides matchings for B40 jobseekers, kitakerja.my also has plans to make them more employable through training and development programmes in which vocational skills will be emphasised.
Kitakerja.my is a nation-building and social initiative by Malaysians for Malaysians.
Kitakerja.my will be a social enterprise once all the infrastructure is in place.
Choong and Nizam are open to discussing possibilities that can help B40 jobseekers upskill or reskill.
Editors’ Note: B40 is the Bottom 40 per cent of the Malaysian household income, whereby recipients earn less than RM4,850 per month.
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