Some 1,000-plus employers nationwide offered the voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to 53,037 workers from 1999 to May 25 this year, said the Human Resources Ministry today.

In a written reply given to Keadilan member of parliament for Kemaman Abdul Rahman Yusof at the Dewn Rakyat, the ministry said Penang had the most number of employees affected by the VSS while Labuan had the least.

A total of 2,814 workers from Penang were offered VSS, followed by Kuala Lumpur (1,793), Perak (1,010) and Negeri Sembilan (623). In Labuan, only four were affected.

In Selangor, 56 companies offered the VSS to their workers, followed by 26 companies in Kuala Lumpur, and 14 in Penang.

The ministry revealed that for this year, 127 companies offered the VSS to 8,203 workers, in most of the states, namely, Kedah, Perlis, Penang, Perak, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor and Labuan.

In 1999, the number of workers offered the VSS was 10,538, in 2000 it was 6,628 and 27,668 for last year.

Companies that offered the VSS scheme dropped from 360 in 1999 to 117 in 2000. However, in last year there were 403 companies.