THE huge disparity between the needs of market forces and education/training received by talents not being addressed holistically has resulted in many socio-economic problems for the nation.
Among the problems faced are over-dependence on cheap foreign labour and disgruntled talents leaving the nation, seeking greener pastures elsewhere.
Sharing his views on the matter, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) said that very few locals are willing to work on certain sectors such as manufacturing and taking up the dirty, dangerous and demeaning jobs (3D).
“Many cringe at the idea of working in factory areas. It’s very challenging for us employers to get locals to take up jobs for the sector,” its executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan told FocusM.
Citing an example, Shamsuddin said that recently the Government encouraged those operating stalls at the Selayang Wholesale Market too hire locals, as many have lost jobs due to the previous movement control order (MCO 1.0).
He added that instead of offering RM1,300 like in the past, many of the stall operators upped the scale between RM2,400 and RM2,500.
“The good news was, many locals did turn up to take up the jobs. The bad news, many threw in the towel after a few days.
“The point here is, when it comes to certain jobs, the turnover rate is very high, leaving employers with no choice but to hire foreigners,” Shamsuddin added.
Huge outflow of capital a bane to local economy
The entrepreneur said that locals preferred to work in an office-based environment, especially seeking opportunities in the management side.
However, Shamsuddin acknowledged that the over-dependence on migrant workers would not bode well for the nation’s economy in the long-run.
“Based on statistics, migrant workers send about RM34 bil to their home countries. That huge outflow of money is definitely not to our benefit.
“Can you imagine if the RM34 bil is retained locally? It will boost local economy and promote growth, which in turn, create more job opportunities as well,” he opined.
With that said, Shamsuddin commended glove maker, Top Glove Corporation Bhd’s (Top Glove) initiative to hire about 9,000 locals to fill up various positions in its organisation.
He also said that the public should support such measures, including the Government’s move to prioritise local hires during the current volatile economic conditions.
“Now, employers have to advertise job vacancies at the MYFutureJobs portal and the Social Security Organisation (Socso) will vet the posting.
“Socso will only allow us to hire foreigners after it finds that we’re unable to get locals to take up the jobs advertised,” Shamsuddin remarked.
Yesterday, Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) national council and SME chairman Koong Lin Loong urged the Government to tweak the education system to ensure talents are prepared to meet market demands once they leave schools.
Koong, an SME Corp director, also urged the Government to stop over-emphasising on creating entrepreneurs, which is only wasting time and energy.
“The fact is, not everyone can become entrepreneurs. Instead of putting too much focus on that, let us also create intrapreneurs, where they can lead a unit within a company and flourish,” he was reported saying. – Feb 1, 2021.
