KUALA LUMPUR: Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli has stressed the need for a policy that ensures the minimum wage is not used as the starting pay for skilled workers.
He noted that the minimum wage of RM1,500 was set as a benchmark for unskilled workers which should lead to higher pay for fresh graduates and young professionals.
"However, statistics showed that the wages for skilled workers are being dragged down because minimum wage has been used as a guidance for fresh graduates and skilled workers.
"This is a phenomenon that requires an immediate policy so that we can rectify the problem," he told a press conference after the launch of Employee Wages Statistics (Formal Sector) Report for the first quarter of 2023 by the Statistics Department today.
The report revealed that the median wages for March 2023 stood at RM2,600, up 8.3 per cent from the same month last year.
The poverty line income (PGK) for 2022 stood at RM2,589 while the living wage as at 2017 was RM3,047. PGK is determined by average household income.
Rafizi said Malaysia had been faced with salary issues whereby the median wage had not increased in tandem with cost of living and remained at a low percentile.
"Why are we only talking about this now? It's because we need to gather accurate data and we are confident with the diagnosis which showed that we do have a wage problem," he added.
Meanwhile, Rafizi said the progressive wage model, which will be presented to the National Economic Action Council (NEAC) on Monday, had received positive feedback from the major stakeholder namely employers.
He noted the employers require commitment from the government to set aside amount for yearly increment for both the private and public sector.
"I need to convince the government that it needs an allocation every year for salary increment for both sectors because previously if the matter revolves around salary, it only touches on the public sector.
"The private sector would not get any increment due to the lack of a progressive policy. This policy will include the private sector but we just need an agreement with the government to set aside an amount and how much it can allocate for a yearly increment," he said.
Rafizi had previously said the model will be jointly developed by the Economy Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry.