Lack Of Low Skilled Labour May Hinder Foreign Investment Says Economist

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Malaysia can address its low blue-collar worker numbers by leveraging on its Asean chairmanship to discuss the creation of an open labour market among member states, says economist Carmelo Ferlito. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: The lack of low-skilled labour could cause Malaysia to struggle in sustaining foreign investments, according to an economist.

Center for Market Education CEO Carmelo Ferlito said foreign investors were attracted to Malaysia due to the strong English proficiency of many locals, its good infrastructure and easy regulatory framework.
Carmelo Ferlito.This, he said, would restrict investments from foreign firms which would be hoping for lower operating costs when investing in Malaysia.
“The lack of talent or skilled labour is less of a problem when compared with the lack of blue-collar or unskilled labour. Malaysia has an abundance of talent but a lack of blue-collar or unskilled workers,” he told FMT.
To address this, Ferlito suggested that Malaysia leverage on its Asean chairmanship to discuss the possibility of an open labour market among member states.
“With an open Asean labour market, the excess of talents here can find better opportunities abroad while Malaysia will gain access to foreign labour, which is in high demand.
“Malaysia is a small country and can’t realistically think of producing management jobs for everybody,” he added.
Socio-Economic Research Centre (SERC) executive director Lee Heng Guie, however, said Malaysia has generally done a good job in addressing labour shortages but needs to step up the production of skilled labour.
“These challenges are not just in Malaysia. The first thing investors want to know when they invest in any country is whether they have enough people (labour),” he said.
He also said Malaysia has laid the groundwork to attract and sustain foreign investments through the country’s participation in various global forums, alliances and meetings, but must continue to enhance it.
“Hopefully all these discussions will spark and unleash new opportunities in Malaysia so investors will come to explore and find out more about Malaysia, given current geopolitical uncertainties.”
He acknowledged that Putrajaya has been investing heavily in up-skilling the workforce and on technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
Lee Heng Guie.Lee also backed a new policy which requires firms to recruit three interns for every expatriate employed, saying the move would help mould graduates into skilled individuals ready for the workforce.
Last week, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim held high-level meetings with business leaders from Google, Nestle, AstraZeneca, Fortescue, DP World and Medtronics on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Previously, the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research said more needed to be done to meet the demands of the changing job market despite the launch of government programmes to improve skills training and encourage upskilling. - FMT

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