KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 — More than half of those who lost their jobs this year were formerly employed within the Klang Valley, the Ministry of Human Resource revealed today.

Minister M. Kulasegaran, after chairing the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) meeting today, attributed the changes in industries and the fast pace of the employment market as a main contributor to the city folk losing their employments.

"There are many reasons, changes in the market, new industries, and some are just due to work cycles,” he said.

He revealed that from January 1 to December 7 this year, some 21,532 people had lost their jobs nationwide.

Among the affected sectors is the manufacturing sector, which saw 32 per cent of employees lose their jobs, followed by the construction sector (8.8 per cent) and the financial sector (8.1 per cent).

Kulasegaran also elaborated on efforts put in place by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) in trying to get those retrenched back into the workforce.

"As of December 7, Socso’s Employment Services Division has succeeded in placing 6,292 people back into the workforce, in various occupations and industries,” he said today.

He also pointed out the efforts of his ministry in working to streamline all Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) programmes within the country, to prepare workers for the Industrial Revolution 4.0.

"With now people mentioning even Industrial Revolution 5.0, we need to get these workers ready.

"We need to focus more efforts in training our human capital, and more attention will be given to this by the government,” he added.

He said these programmes will be reevaluated according to the needs of the economic sector and able to enhance job marketability, employability and to provide better salaries for TVET graduates.