MDEC rolls out RM 100 million MYWiT initiative, here’s how your business might be eligible

Earlier this week, The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) launched the MyDigitalWorkForce Work In Tech (MYWiT), a training and hiring incentive programme aimed  at boosting the digital business services sector as well as developing quality tech talents in Malaysia. This initiative is an extension of the #MyDigitalWorkforce Movement that MDEC launched last year to  help re-skill and up-skill Malaysians for digital economy jobs. 

According to a statement released by MDEC, the objective of the initiative is to upskill and subsidise talents and businesses with RM100 million in  training and salary incentives and more than 300 companies within these sectors are expected to gain from this program while an estimated 6,000 job opportunities will be created with the aim to produce at least 1,000 quality tech talents. 

This is in line with the government’s Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) which aims to create 500,000 jobs for Malaysians by 2025. 

“The Government is cognizant of the challenges brought about by the pandemic and today’s  announcement is a testament of our continued effort to not only sustain the tech industry but also serves  as a boost to increase our capabilities and capacities, to enable the digital business industry to survive  and thrive,” said Minister of Communications and Multimedia, YB  Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah. “Together with MDEC, we will continue to drive the digital economy forward and accelerate  towards achieving the goals as set forth in MyDIGITAL in ensuring a shared prosperity for all.” 

MyWiT is made up of the following components; the Digital Business Services (DBS) and Digital Tech  Apprenticeship (DTA) initiatives. DBS is aimed at incentivising companies hiring fresh  graduates or unemployed Malaysians for digital business services roles within their organisation and  offers a minimum incentive between RM9,800 and RM20,600 per employee. 

For each employee this incentive will be divided into two parts – the salary incentive, which will cover 40 percent of the  employee’s monthly wage for six months (minimum salary of RM2,000) and a RM5,000 training incentive. The training courses eligible for this include in-house training with a minimum of 40 hours or  “Work and Learn” courses listed on MDEC’s Digital Skills Training Directory. There are 180 courses  listed to date on the website.  

Meanwhile, the DTA is targeted at companies that are hiring unemployed Malaysians for high demand  tech jobs in areas such as Data Science, Software Development and Cybersecurity, offering a total  incentive package of RM15,200 per employee. This constitutes a salary incentive of RM1,200 per month  for a period of six months and training incentive worth RM8,000 per employee. Employers will be  expected to pay a minimum salary of RM3,000 from the fourth month onwards. Employers may select  training courses from the “Career Upgrade” courses listed on MDEC’s Digital Skills Training Directory. 

All courses in the Digital Skills Training Directory have been reviewed and endorsed by industry  practitioners. 

“The skills demanded today is something MDEC is closely keeping tabs on, said CEO of MDEC, Surina Shukri. “Our recent analysis among various job search sites, namely LinkedIn, Jobstreet, Monster, Indeed and Jobstore, show an increasing demand for digital jobs and a total of 47,000 tech-related jobs were advertised in all five portals up to February 2021.”

MDEC targets to incentivise tech companies prepared to hire, upskill and adequately compensate the Malaysian workforce, directly averting and eradicating the impact that COVID-19 is  exerting on unemployment. 

“At the most fundamental level, the programme accelerates Malaysia’s  journey towards being a digital society through creating digital opportunities for the people, businesses  and the economy as a whole, in line with MyDIGITAL,” Surina said.

To qualify for both the DBS and DTA incentives, the company must be incorporated in Malaysia and is  committed to offering employment for a minimum of 12 months. Maximum hiring quota is set at 500 pax  for DBS and 50 for DTA.  

On the other hand, individuals seeking to benefit from MyWiT must be Malaysian citizens and must not  be a current or past beneficiary of any of MDEC’s MyWiT incentives or part of PenjanaKerjaya 2.0 and  Penjana KPT-CAP programmes. DBS is open to fresh graduates, unemployed and retrenched  individuals while the DTA is open to the unemployed and retrenched employees.  For those interested to learn more about MYWiT and the programmes, visit: https://mdec.my/mywit