Federation of M’sian Manufacturers Urges Govt To Reconsider RM1.5k Minimum Wage Decision

Following the announcement by Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday that minimum wage in Malaysia will be increased to RM1,500 per month starting 1 May, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has today urged the government to reconsider the decision and instead implement a progressive increment approach. FMM president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai said that the new minimum wage amounted to a sudden increase of 25% which will have an adverse effect to businesses and our nation’s economic recovery.

As reported by national news agency Bernama, FMM in a statement today said that the federation opined that an incremental increase in minimum wage would be able to circumvent the rising cost of living brought forth by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as supply chain disruption. Its president further iterated,

“Employers will plan to continuously increase wage in 2022 and this will be able to deal with the pressure of rising living costs… FMM proposes for the government to implement an incremental increase of minimum wage with RM100 increase in the third quarter of 2022 followed by further increase in 2023 and 2024 to RM1,500,”

For illustration purposes.

Soh further said that FMM is confident that the necessary control towards rising costs by the government coupled with a unified effort by industries to deal with rising costs internally, employers can still keep jobs and adjust salaries. Furthermore, in a recent survey conducted by FMM with the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research, a majority of respondents said that an increase of RM100 towards minimum wage is acceptable in accordance to the current economic condition.

What do you guys think of FMM’s statement? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Also read: JUST IN: PM Approves RM1,500 Minimum Wage In Malaysia, To Be Implemented On 1 May 2022