THE influx of foreign workers is the top concern among Malays living in rural areas as well as Malaysians with household income of less than RM3,000.

A study conducted by a global market research agency, Ipsos, showed Malaysians are worried this could affect the unemployment rate

Ipsos Business Consulting country head Kiranjit Singh said the concern has nothing to do with racism or xenophobia.

“As a Malaysian I was quite surprised to see immigration control as number one.

“Unemployment rate in Malaysia is 3.5%, which is good.

“But this 3.5% represents 500,000 to 550,000 Malaysians who are unemployed,” he said at a press conference today.

Kiranjit also said it is the biggest concern among the younger generation who are entering the workforce as the jobs created today do not fulfil their aspirations.

“Youth unemployment is twice or three times higher than the national average (unemployment rate).

“Every generation wants their kids to do better than them. Therefore, the jobs are not meeting the aspirations and qualifications of the Malaysians,” said Kiranjit adding there are approximately 1.7 million registered foreign workers in the country.

He added there is still the need for foreign workers as many industries rely on them.

The study showed unemployment is the third concern among Malaysians and is mostly felt by Malays who are still single as well as females and students.

It is also a concern among those with a household income of less than RM1,000 and Generation Z aged 15 to 24.

The second most worrying issue felt nationwide is governance  and corporate conduct.

“Good governance is slightly more of concern to middle class Chinese. This is in line with other studies done by different publications,” said Kiranjit.

The study was conducted among 2,027 consumers aged 15- to 64-years-old nationwide via telephone.

Interviewees were given 10 concerns and were told to pick three concerns that worry them the most.

Other concerns include crime and violence, inflation, drug abuse, poverty and social inequality, terrorism, healthcare and education.

Ipsos also conducted a global study involving 26 countries and found the top three concerns are unemployment, governance (government and corporate conduct) and poverty and social inequality.

Immigration control is the least concern among these 26 countries.

Director of Ipsos Loyalty and Public Affairs Arun Menon said the differences in the ranking of concern pertaining to immigration control occurred as it was an average result finding between the 26 countries, as compared to Malaysia’s result.

“Most countries in Europe and Australia said immigration control is a concern.

“But if you look at India and China, that’s not a big concern. When we average all 26 countries, only six or seven mentioned it as a big concern,” he said. – December 5, 2017.