‘Rebrand jobs, reskill workers’

Adapt to survive: There must be a willingness among workers to be mobile, learn new skills and adapt to new and more challenging work environments, experts say.

PETALING JAYA: Policies are needed to encourage companies to hire more locals and curb rising unemployment rates in the current recovery period and even when the Covid-19 pandemic is over, say employer groups and workers’ unions.

Long-term planning is essential in changing the perception that the jobs that many foreign workers usually take up are “socially undesirable”.

Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said in the short-term, tax breaks would be vital in enticing companies to hire locals.

However, it was more important to provide grants for companies to move towards mechanisation so that certain manual tasks would not be as laborious.

“For example, if you go to Thailand, those who are manning and pushing the trolleys are not foreigners but locals – even women.

“They use simple machinery to help them carry out their tasks,” he said.

Shamsuddin said that government assistance would be crucial in encouraging the employment of locals, especially as many companies were in dire financial straits.

However, in the long run, skills in such jobs must be certified in order to shed the false perception that these jobs were socially unacceptable, he said.

“Currently, we have the SKM or Malaysian Skills Certification (a formal, nationally recognised certificate issued by the government), so that is one of the ways we can ‘professionalise’ such jobs.

“We need to show that these jobs are done by skilled people,” he said.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president Datuk Abdul Halim Mansor said there should be more policies to encourage employers to hire locals.

He suggested that one way to do so would be to mandate a certain local-foreigner ratio, such as hiring 10 locals to each foreign worker.

Companies, he added, must also consider whether foreign workers were truly a necessity, and only hire them if they are lacking in manpower.

“From what we observed from the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysians are not choosy about jobs – but it remains to be seen whether they are given opportunities,” he said.

Halim added that more companies should invest in technology to increase their productivity and make jobs more attractive.

“We must rebrand jobs and reskill workers – employers must be brave enough to invest so that the workforce can be trained,” he said.

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai said that manufacturers have been encouraged to fill their vacancies with locals, especially in skilled labour and management positions.

“Foreign workers are usually employed for general operator-level jobs, which employers find difficult to be filled by locals due to the nature of the job and the expectations of locals.

“FMM and its members are cognisant of the fact that the unemployment rate amongst locals is on the rise with the figure reaching 5.3% in May.

“Despite offering higher wages, employers continue to face high turnover and absenteeism among local workers, expectations of better and cleaner work environments, and an unwillingness to work in shifts and do overtime,” he said.

Manufacturers, he said, hire foreign workers out of necessity as they were unable to fill these positions with locals.

It is also not cheap to hire foreign workers, Soh said, adding that on top of the salary, employers also have to bear additional costs such as the recruitment fee at the source country, levy, medical examination, security clearance, accommodation and travel.

He said companies that had been able to maintain their employment levels beyond six months of the first outbreak of Covid-19, including those that continue to hire during the recovery movement control order period, should be given additional tax deductions.

He also called for retrenched workers to be absorbed by manufacturers that are still growing and struggling to meet global orders, particularly manufacturers of personal protective equipment.

“However, there must be a willingness among workers to be mobile, learn new skills and adapt to new and more challenging work environments,” he added.

Malaysian Estate Owners’ Association vice-president Peter Benjamin said that locals were still not interested in working in the plantation sector even though it pays well, with various allowances.

“The sector has not been able to attract local talent for more than a decade now. The stigma of plantation jobs being dirty, difficult and dangerous still turns locals away.

“This is not just for operational jobs but also managerial positions,” he said.

Benjamin said several plantation companies had been advertising in newspapers and media of various languages to hire locals.

“The job listings note that we provide free housing, free utilities and a range of benefits on top of the standard remuneration package.

“But few people enquired,” he said.

Benjamin added that the younger generation preferred jobs in other industries and to work in the city as they had been groomed by their parents who had worked in estates to seek a better future elsewhere.

“The government must realise that Malaysians are not interested in these jobs.

“For the plantation sector’s

survival, we will have no choice but to rely on foreign workers,” he added.

With the Malaysian economy ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of unemployed rose to 826,100 persons in May.

However, there are still jobs available in the country.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan had said that about 40,000 jobs would be created for locals through the Human Resources Development Fund’s National Economic Recovery Plan.

Targeting local workers and jobless graduates, jobs and skills training will also be offered under the initiative. - Star