Offer incentives for retailers to hire part-time workers

ONE of the main concerns of most parents is the financing of their children’s education. Even with a loan from the PTPTN, it is difficult to have enough money to pay for their education. In some countries, university students are allowed to work part-time to earn money and ease the burdens of their parents.

Recently, my two children aged 18 and 20 told me they wanted to work during their semester break. I was all for it because I think it’s good for them to have some working experience and earn some money as well. Besides that, it’s also better for them to be occupied with work and gaining some experience instead of wasting their time on video games and social media.

I even drove them to the shop- ping malls and retail outlets near our residential area to search for part-time job vacancies. But after going to about 30 outlets, we found that not even one was hiring. This made me wonder who was filling all the job vacancies. I have noticed foreigners working in a lot of the outlets, with some even attending to the cash counters. How can we be hiring foreign workers while our own citizens cannot get a job? Where is our country heading? Will there be a time when there is no more work for our own people?

The Government says foreign workers are only allowed in the 3D (dangerous, dirty and difficult) jobs but you can see them working everywhere.

It’s time we put a stop to this and give the jobs to our citizens.

I read in the newspapers recently that youths are in debt at an earlier age and some are even declared bankrupt. I really feel the pressure they are going through, seeing that just after finishing university they are already in debt with their study loan to repay. With employment being difficult to secure, how does anyone expect them to settle their loans?

Some youths can barely manage financially after their studies even if they manage to get jobs. Worse still, those who are unable to get a job and cannot start repaying their study loans are blacklisted and cannot travel out of the country.

The Government should come up with some solutions for these problems. Allowing students to work part-time can be one, and part of their earnings can be used for their studies. The Government should encourage retail outlets to hire students on a part-time basis by giving tax incentives.

Universities should also have flexible study hours to allow students to study and work as well.

This will also be beneficial for students as they would be gaining knowledge from their studies while gaining work experience at the same time. I’m sure these students would be able to face the working world with more confidence and skills. R. K. NAIR Klang