Tackle employment gap in economic sectors

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia needs to come up with a comprehensive strategy to address the labour force disparity among the economic sectors in the country, said Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) chairman, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

He said any surplus in the workforce should be channelled to sectors which are facing a spike in labour demands.

He noted that the Covid19 pandemic had led to an unexpected windfall for businesses such as food and beverage; e-commerce; logistics and delivery services; cleaning and disinfection services; digital technology; as well as Internet and communications – sectors which saw a substantial increase in business transactions.

As such, he said, the Social Security Organisation’s (Socso) database on labor surplus and the sectoral demand for workers should be aligned to address the mismatch between demand and supply.

“The global and domestic economic landscape is expected to change radically in the medium-term, and the local labour market will continue to be affected by the surplus of workers in some sectors due to the decline in economic activities.

“Here, the labour surplus is not limited to workers who have been retrenched and are currently unemployed; it also includes those who have had to undertake unpaid leave, reduced working hours and pay cuts; as well as those who are selfemployed and have suddenly lost their source of income,” Nor Mohamed said.

He said this during the virtual media briefing session on KRI’s report, “Work in an Evolving Malaysia: The State of Households 2020 Part II” released yesterday.

Nor Mohamed noted that it was equally important for the government to launch the Active Labour Market Policy to address the mismatch of skills when employees shift to a new sector from their previous vocations.

He said the upskilling, reskilling and cross-skilling training programmes offered by various agencies such as the Human Resource Development

Fund (HRDF), Socso, SME Corp, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) and Protégé should be intensively mobilised to meet the demand.

“If the worker’s transition to the new sector is temporary, a middle ground can be considered, where the terms of the employment contract may include a recall clause so that the original employer can regain their manpower as their business recovers.

“In short, the cooperation and alignment between agencies offering services to employees and employers in Malaysia should be expedited through a practicable action plan,” Nor Mohamed said.

He said the Covid-19 crisis had also revealed gaps in several important sectors in Malaysia which needs to be addressed, including the health and medical sector; food; education; communications and education sectors.

Given the ongoing health crisis, it was important for the health and medical sector to have sufficient capacity to face future wide-scale pandemics; as well as to coordinate the supply chain for the agriculture and food sectors, he said.

“Meanwhile, the education sector should be more prepared for online classes.

“Aside from strengthening the quality of broadbands, much needs to be done in developing education in the form of digital contents; training teachers and lecturers through digital technology; as well as bridging the poor-rich, urban-rural digital gap so that no child will be left behind,” he added.

It is also important to ensure these sectors’ readiness and capability in facing similar crises that may arise more frequently in the future, and the surplus of manpower could be channeled to these important industries, he said.

Nor Mohamed noted that the shock brought on by the pandemic had negative effects on sectors such as tourism; hospitality; aviation; meeting, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) and sporting events.

“In this situation, public investments are important in driving growth via new economic sources to create quality job opportunities.

“This is the right time to develop strategic sectors such as green technology, renewable energy and the care sector, as well as expanding the digital economy’s ecosystem,” he said.

Nor Mohamed said efforts to diversify economic resources will balance out the risk of instability due to over-reliance on several economic sectors, adding that the new workers entering the market and the existing surplus of workforce can be utilised in the new economic areas.

“Malaysians have a high resilience in terms of dealing with this Covid-19 crisis, like what we have experienced during previous major crises.

“Although this crisis is said to be different in terms of its nature, scale and duration, the leaders and policy makers’ foresight, which is supported by consultations with civil servants, thought leaders, industry players, workers and the general public offers a brighter hope and better chance in winning this Covid-19 war,” he added.

The global and domestic economic landscape is expected to change radically in the medium-term, and the local labour market will continue to be affected by the surplus of workers in some sectors due to the decline in economic activities. Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop