There’s a growing trend of Malaysians lifting their gaze to places abroad to make a living – and it’s not Singapore they’re looking at but somewhere further.
Countries like China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are attracting Malaysian talent, reported The Star and many are keen on their opportunity there.
Former president of SME Association Malaysia Teh Kee Sin was quoted saying that professionals as well as semi-skilled and skilled workers are leaving the country for better pay and employment prospects. Even if it meant working dirtier jobs!
Credit: thestar.com.my
“The view that Malaysians are not willing to do work deemed difficult and dirty is not right as many of them are taking up such jobs in these countries,”
“Many commute to do such jobs in Singapore. There must be something wrong if a Malaysian is willing to work as a cleaner in Singapore but not in Johor Baru,” said Teh
He opined that unless Malaysian companies were willing to pay better wages for menial and unskilled jobs, the current problem of locals unwilling to take up such jobs wouldn’t even exist.
Credit: gegridsolutions.com
This is happening in the Oil & Gas industry in Malaysia as well.
Attracted by a generous salary and remuneration package, many skilled Malaysians tend to opt to work in the Oil and Gas sector in Singapore and the Middle East.
An anonymous human resources manager compared the salaries between home and abroad: he told the news portal that the monthly salary in Malaysia for a certified welder with a 6G certification working offshore starts at between RM4,000 and RM5,000 monthly.
“The same person will get between S$4,000 (RM11,900) and S$5,000 (RM14,900) in Singapore and US$10,000 (RM40,290) if he chooses to work in any of the oil-producing Arab countries,” he added.
And apparently the attraction is reciprocated by these corporations, for Malaysian workers are sought for in the said corporations based in Singapore and the Middle East.
He told The Star how Malaysia and companies operating within Malaysia are loosing out, for they invest millions of ringgit to train locals however at the end of the day, foreign countries were the ones reaping the benefits from such investments.
“There is nothing much that we (Malaysia) can do to stop highly skilled locals in the oil and gas sector from working in other countries,” he said, and later added how the only solution viable to the Malaysian exodus of highly skilled workers was to start paying a good monthly salary plus other perks to compete with salaries being paid abroad.
