IMEG scheme helps with salaries of new employees in Iskandar Malaysia

Companies looking to set up in the Iskandar Malaysia growth corridor in southern Johor have been strongly encouraged to apply for the Iskandar Malaysia Employment Grant (IMEG).

Offered by the state government via the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), the IMEG scheme is a job-matching scheme that helps firms to pay new employees’ salaries for the first six months of employment. The grant allows companies a matching salary payment of up to RM2, 500 for each qualified employee during this period.

In fact, IRDA business ecosystem vice president Prakash Nagarajan has reported to New Straits Times Online that a total of “227 applicants’ monthly salaries were partially paid by the state government” since the scheme’s launch in May. He further commented that “those who meet the criteria set by the IMEG scheme will obtain monthly salary, which is one-half paid by the state government through IRDA. The other half is paid by the company”.

Eligible candidates include limited skill workers, unemployed graduates, women, retrenched workers, those in technical and services sector, OKU card holders (Orang Kurang Upaya - persons with disabilities), as well as retired workers. Other than that, the prospective employee also needed to be unemployed for three to six months and hold a valid job offer letter from an employer that is based in Iskandar Malaysia.

With 300-400 applications monthly, Prakash mentioned that the IRDA has to “carefully vet through all submissions” due to the huge number of applications.

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