LETTERS: The labour crunch in Malaysia raises the question whether the unemployment figure is reflective of the employment landscape.
Let's look at the category of "employed persons" as defined by the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
Aside from those who work eight hours a day in a five-day work week, "employed persons" also involve those working only one hour a week and may be unpaid workers in a family enterprise setting.
In this case, e-hailing drivers, delivery ridersand other type of freelancers are also classified as (fully) "employed" individuals.
However, the official employment figure may not clearly capture to what extent labour is underutilised in Malaysia.
EMIR Research's findings in 2020 showed that close to 26 per cent of the workforce (equivalent to four million freelancers) work in the gig economy.
Lockdown measures arising from the Covid-19 pandemic over the past two years have given some the opportunity to re-evaluate their life priorities and career or occupational choices.
Changes in career perceptions appear to tally with the recent findings of human resources solutions agency, Randstad.
Nine out of 10 now prefer to improve their work-life balance — with 44 per cent opting for flexible work time slots and 33 per cent choosing to work from home more often.
As a result, many corporate and industrial players are facing difficulty recruiting workers laid off during the pandemic.
To ensure that we are not overly reliant on the gig economy to generate employment, EMIR Research recommends the following:
In the short term, speed up approvals on hiring skilled and low-skilled foreign labour to counter the shortage. Harness foreign skilled talents to fill up 73,766 job vacancies.
In addition, reduce the documentation required for foreign labour permit applications. Shorten the approval process from five to two days.
In the medium term, reassess and improve on the effectiveness of the Returning Expert Programme (REP), which was introduced by Talent Corp Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp) two decades ago to attract more overseas Malaysians to return home.
A total of 5,774 REP applications were approved between 2011 and 2020. This is still far from sufficient to address the brain drain issue as the Malaysian diaspora could reach up to two million this year.
To pre-empt more young Malaysians from working overseas, think about designing (high-skilled and high-income) jobs that meet the expectations and aspirations of Gen Z and millennials.
In addition, the Human Resources Ministry and TalentCorp could introduce an annual Asean exchange programme for professionals aged 21 to 40 with a duration of up to six months.
Malaysians could choose to work in one of the Asean countries to gain experience. Upon returning, they could provide feedback on how to enhance or improve the working environment back home.
In the long term, revamp the education system with stronger focus on Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STREAM) at primary, secondary and university levels.
However, the STREAM initiative has to be supported by digital devices and connectivity.
Incorporate a mix-and-match academic culture, whereby students from one discipline can minor in or adopt a discipline or field of study from a different faculty.
For example, a law student should be able to incorporate some modules in engineering that will boost problem-solving skills.
Students can then be better equipped with technical or digital and soft skills, and adapt to rapid changes in line with industry demand.
With stronger emphasis on nurturing high-skilled local talent and creating high-skilled, high-income jobs, Malaysians who are tempted to seek greener pastures abroad will be motivated to stay back and contribute to the economy.
AMANDA YEO
Research analyst, EMIR Research, Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times