THE government’s work-from-home recommendation under the movement control order (MCO) has few takers because most businesses have difficulty digitising their operations, said an SME panel head.

Koong Lin Loong, who is the SME committee chairman of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the depressed economy has cut revenue and cashflow, preventing companies from investing in information technology to enable remote office arrangements.

Digitisation requires capital and technology, Koong said.

“Without sufficient funds to upgrade their technology, many companies find it hard to implement a good WFH policy even though Malaysians are in favour of it.

“From the feedback we have received from association members, the WFH practices of various companies are weak and inefficient. It affects the company’s collections and payment, which in turn impacts the company’s cashflow,” said Koong.

During previous lockdowns, only 30% of management staff were allowed be present on-site. But department heads were given some leeway in obeying the directive to suit their operations.

The directive was rescinded on April 1 when the conditional MCO was introduced and the rules were relaxed.

The country went into lockdown yesterday after daily Covid-19 cases, which were trending upwards of 2,000 since mid-April, surpassed 4,000 early this month.

There are currently more than 40,000 active cases and health authorities have warned that beds for cases requiring intensive care are reaching capacity.

Workplaces contributed the bulk of Covid-19 clusters although health authorities say the spread has now shifted to the community and 80% of cases are sporadic.

Koong suggested that to balance the WFH policy with economic and business operations, 60% of operations staff and 40% of management staff should be allowed to work on site.

He added that the cycle of lockdowns, which has curbed consumer spending and domestic demand, has prevented companies from recovery, and cash flow is focused on survival rather than on investing in technology.

“Before they have had enough time to recover, they are hit again. With the slow pace of the national vaccination programme, how are companies going to have sufficient money to upgrade their technology to implement the WFH policy?” he said.

Malaysian Employers’ Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said digitisation is not a cheap process.

“Although companies that go digital can improve efficiency, they need to invest large amounts of money.
Not every employer has the extra funds to upgrade to the digital business model during a pandemic.

“And with lower consumer spending and more uncertainty due to MCO 3.0, this will continue to be a difficult year for employers,” said Shamsuddin.

Many employers are not optimistic about a recovery this year, he added.

He attributed this to the slow progress of the national vaccination programme and foreign labour ban.

SME Association of Malaysia president Michael Kang, meanwhile, said most companies could eventually adopt remote office arrangements but they could not be expected to make the switch overnight as the government expected them to do. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, May 12, 2021.