EMPLOYERS must change their way of incentivising locals to stay in Malaysia for 3D (dangerous, dirty and difficult) jobs, said Human Resources Minister M. Kula Segaran. 

While the government has set a high minimum salary of RM1,100, employers are still encouraged to take their own initiatives to incentivise local 3D workers to return from abroad, he said. 

“(We don’t) bar employers from giving higher salaries and other benefits, so this will spur people to come back (from overseas) to work,” Kula Segaran, who is also Ipoh Barat MP, said.

He said employers needed to provide a sense of well-being and financial stability for their workers as this would influence locals not to leave the country.

“Many of us who have gone overseas, we realise that many 3D workers have uniforms and are well groomed. These are factors that employers can use to empower them (employees). We also cannot ask employees to work more than the (set) number of hours, as leisure time is also important.” 

Kula Segaran said as the government moves towards the Industrial Revolution 4.0, the Human Resources Development Fund (HDRF) would help 3D industries overcome challenges involving unskilled workers.

“HRDF can also play a part to train people in 3D sectors to acquire the kind of upskilling or reskilling for themselves,” he said after officiating the HRDF Conference and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur today.

HRDF deputy chairman Quah Thain Khan said one key solution would be to train multi-skilled workers as it would justify a pay raise by employers, especially as foreign workers remain a cheaper solution.

“A key (solution) for people doing 3D jobs is multi-skilling and improving productivity, as there is no point giving a pay raise if (they are) still doing the same job. However, companies are reliant on foreign workers, who are easy, cheap and just pure manual workers,” Quah said.

Kula Segaran also said that if employers hired locals rather than depending on foreign workers, the benefits would reverberate on a much larger scale and lead to growth of the economy.

“There is oversight in the last two decades and an over-reliance on foreign workers. They are foreign, they are not local; we have to empower our own workers. These are all win-win situations because if you have more Malaysians working, it will increase consumption and the economy will be propelled to higher growth,” he said.

Earlier this week, Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin agreed with Kula Segaran in Parliament, saying it was wrong to assume youth refused to work in 3D jobs.

Kula Segaran had said youth were more willing to do 3D jobs abroad in Australia and Singapore because of higher wages and incentives, and would only return to Malaysia if the benefits could be matched by local employers. – November 27, 2018.