Malaysia needs robust strategies to boost high-skilled job growth, as part of the country’s move up the value chain and complement the Progressive Wage Policy (PWP), said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
He said with the PWP’s impending implementation in October, educational institutions can play a critical role in improving the alignment of programmes with industry needs, promoting innovation as well as supporting entrepreneurship through incubators and accelerators.
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He said with the PWP’s impending implementation in October, educational institutions can play a critical role in improving the alignment of programmes with industry needs, promoting innovation as well as supporting entrepreneurship through incubators and accelerators.
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
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NewsTranscript
00:00To our minister today, we have a keynote address. Thank you so much.
00:09Stagnant rich growth and limited expansion of high-skilled job opportunities contribute to the diminishing purchasing power
00:20and invariably create a deeper sense of economic insecurity among Malaysians.
00:26From 2010 to 2022, the median monthly wages of employees in Malaysia, former sector,
00:35has shown relatively slow growth of just 4.1% per annum from RM1,500 to RM2,424
00:48in terms of nominal wages, while the real wage growth is more concerning at 3.1% per annum.
00:58The troubling reality is when 56% of Malaysian workers earn below the recommended living wage of RM3,047 per month,
01:11with Malaysia being one of the countries with the lowest household savings for the low and semi-skilled workers.
01:19Ladies and gentlemen, the Progressive Wage Policies, PWP, set to be implemented in October this year,
01:28is anticipated to positively impact wage stagnation by ensuring fair compensation for employees' productivity and efforts.
01:39This is indeed a step in the right direction, but the overall impact of wages is expected to be relatively worse.
01:47However, the PWP must be complemented by larger-scale efforts.
01:54One crucial effort is to move up the value chain in markets and transition our society towards skilled industries.
02:02This should involve creating more high-skilled jobs, which typically attract greater foreign investors,
02:09and spur economic growth, which ultimately exerts positive upward pressure on wages.
02:16Ladies and gentlemen, Recent data from Malaysia's Department of Statistics show that job creation is predominantly in semi-skilled roles,
02:26accounting for 61.9% of the 321,000 new jobs in the first quarter of this year.
02:35High-skilled jobs make up 27.5%, but they remain below pre-pandemic levels seen in 2018 and 2019,
02:48indicating a recovery towards semi-skilled employment.
02:53This is also a concerning rise in low-skilled job creation, increasing from an average of 7.26% per quarter from 2018 to 2021,
03:08to 10.5% for the first quarter of this year, reflecting shifting labour market dynamics.
03:15To address this trend, Malaysia needs robust strategies to boost high-skilled jobs growth,
03:23especially for youth.
03:27Educational institutions play a critical role by aligning programmes with industry needs,
03:34promoting innovation through research and development, and supporting entrepreneurship through incubators and accelerators.
03:44These efforts can diversify and strengthen the job market better, meeting the country's economic demands and workforce aspirations.