SITUATION OF YOUNG WORKERS IN MALAYSIA
By Sivam Doraisamy
Executive
Summar
The purpose of the study is to survey
the situation of young workers between the age group 15 to 34 in Malaysia. The
survey is based on library search, random interview with production workers and
information/views obtained from community organization working with plantation
workers, factory workers and urban settlers.
Major concern of the study is to analyze the changing trend of
Changing positions of young workers in
the changing labour markets in the past decade and prospect. Besides other
issues concerning young workers such as working conditions and social problems
were also presented to give an overall picture of the situation of young
workers in Malaysia today.
Youth population between the age group
15 to 34 in Malaysia is approximately 9.75 million and they are around 42.5% of
the total population. Youths are also the largest labour force; about 60 to 55%
for the past decade and these are the young workers of the nation. Percentage
of young workers between 15-24 years old are lesser (23.3%, 2000) compared to
young workers between 25-34 years old (31.6%, 2000). At least 54% of young
workers are employed. Employed young women workers made up of 50% of the total
employed male young workers. High proportion of young workers is in the
manufacturing sector. Young workers also the largest number without employment
as the statistics shows that about 83.6% were unemployed especially those
between the age group 15-24, forms 65.6%. The total number of registered
unemployed young workers with the Human Resource Ministry is declining over the
decade. Unfortunately, the numbers of young workers aged between 15-24
registered with the Ministry have relatively increased and form an average of
37% compared to those age between 25-34 only about 13.5% over the past 10
years. Most of these young workers were
also without working experience, about 45%.
So, the population of youth between the
age group 15 to 24 are lesser about 4.37 million (2000) and the number of young
workers (labour force) among the same age group also lower, 23.3% but the
number of them in the unemployed category are higher, 65.6% and the number of
them registered with the Ministry also relatively higher, about 37%.
At least 65% of total registered young
workers have education level above MCE or O level. Labour market indicator
shows that the job vacancies reported to the Ministry is increasing especially
in the manufacturing sector, about 54.6%. But then, another problem facing the
young workers in the current economy crisis is retrenchment. Though the
government statistics shows the number of retrenchment is declining but it is
shocking that the highest percentage (55.15%, 2000) of those retrenched are
from the manufacturing sector, knowing well that most young workers are in that
sector.
Another trend in Malaysia, is the
growing number of 'outside the labour force' youths. Based on government
statistics, it shows most of them have secondary level education and tertiary
education but why are they not part of the labour force especially when 55.5 %
of them are involved in housework? Whether it is their choice or are they not
equipped with right skills to obtain gainful employment need to be studied in
future.
Looking into the working condition of
the young workers in Malaysia, one could say that we are still backward in the
sense that working conditions are depriving. Lowest 40% of household earning an
average monthly income of RM840 and the medium 40% earn below RM2, 202 while
the top 20% earns RM7, 006 a month. Only 20% of workforce are professionals,
technical workers and managerial workers, the remaining 80% are
production-related workers. No minimum wage law in the country. Unionization of
labour force is very low (8%) and labour laws are lenient towards employers.
Working hours are increased to more than 12 hours a day. Low income has forced
young workers to engage in more than one job in order to survive the high cost
of living especially with the privatization of public utilities. Rest, leisure times and in worst situation,
family is forgotten. Thus, it effects healthy family development and creates
more social problems.
Besides,
the number of industrial accidents and deaths recorded in the country is quite
high especially in the production-related sectors where young workers are
employed high in number. This indicates lack of enforcement on the part of the
government while the employers in their intense to maximize profit has
neglected workers health and safety at work place. Number of Social Security
programs designed for the workers also seems to be ineffective in curbing the
industrial accidents as well as protecting the workers from retrenchment and
other labour rights.
Reviewing the issue of housing
conditions and the need to own affordable permanent house with enough space and
facilities seems to be far a reach for those in the lower income group
especially. Forced eviction adds further burden to the young workers population
in the marginalised and neglected communities such as urban pioneers and
plantation workers.
Social problems among young workers and
youth in general are alarming. For instance, the largest proportion of young
workers, especially the unemployed is infected with HIV/AIDS. So are the
alarming figures of 400,000 young workers addicted to drug. Juvenile
delinquency is also arising in number. All together it gives a picture that the
situation of young workers in Malaysia are very critical and they are not the
one to be blamed entirely since the overall picture of the social and economic
situation in Malaysia shows an unequal development.
Currently, young workers seem to be in a
situation where unemployment are higher among them with social problems and
employed in unskilled/semiskilled job with low wages and depressing working
conditions with the higher possibility of retrenchment. The increasing number
of unemployed young workers, especially those who have no working experience
and with those limited number of youths engaged in highly skilled jobs (around
7%) indicates that the government need to do a lot to improve the situation in
order to achieve higher and healthy economic growth. Laws that deprive young workers of their rights need to be
reviewed. Minimum wage law must be legislated to guarantee a decent and fair
wage and safety and health at work place must be given priority. Housing, health care and education must be
made affordable and reachable to all level of people. Presently there is no
compulsory education policy and free education policy particularly for primary
schools needs to be reviewed, even though literacy rate shows 93%.
Future labour
market prospects shows that more skilled workers with more talents and
innovations are needed. Without skills, unemployment rate among young workers
would increase and so are other social problems. The government needs to
provide skilled labour force that the market needed. Identifying problems or
restrictions that young workers facing in attaining such skill education would
help to improvise current planning that the government already has to produce
quality skilled workers. That might
help the government move towards its vision of achieving high value-added,
technology-intensive and capital intensive industrialization and besides
minimizing labour inputs and maximize quality and skills. More Skill Training
Centers with advance technology level and retraining programs must be
formulated to reach all levels or class of young workers in Malaysia.
SITUATION
OF YOUNG WORKERS IN MALAYSIA
1.1 Introduction
a)
Who is a young worker?
Malaysian's Employment Law defines a child as a
person under 14 years of age and a young person as under 16. International Labor Organisation, via
Minimum Age Convention 1973 sets a number of minimum ages depending on the type
of employment or work. The first principle is that the minimum age should not
be less than the age for completing compulsory schooling and in no event less
than age 15. The second principle is that a higher minimum age should be set
for hazardous work. This age may not be less than 18.
According to the Standard United Nations
definition, 'youth' comprises young people aged between 15 to 24 years
inclusive. The Confederation of Free Trade Unions-Asian and Pacific Regional
Organization (ICFTU-APRO) defines Young Workers as a person between the age 15
to 35. The Malaysian government defines youths, as those between the age group
15 to 40 years while the Malaysian trade Union Congress (MTUC) says youth are
those between 15 to 34. Thus for the purpose of this research, the researcher
adopt the MTUC definition. If a person working part-time or full-time or searching for a
job and the person is between 15 and 34 years of age, then he or she is
considered to be a young worker.
b) Objective of the Survey
The Year 2002 on Situation of Young
Workers in Malaysia is a library research conducted within a month period. The
Survey was conducted in cooperation with the Malaysian Trade Union Congress
besides Human Resources Ministry, Occupational Health and Safety Department and
Health Ministry through its statistical arm and the Department of Statistics
Malaysia. The survey is done to collect data and analyze the following:
§
The general trends of changing positions of young workers in the
changing labour market in the past decade and prospect.
§
Problems of young workers in the labor market such as
unemployment, skill training and retraining and career building.
§
Problems of working conditions of young workers such as wage,
working hours and Social Safety Net.
§
Social problems and young workers such as HIV/AIDS, drugs, housing,
education and juvenile delinquency.
The survey was undertaken as part of
Confederation of Free Trade Unions-Asian and Pacific Regional Organization
(ICFTU-APRO) who is conducting a regional survey on Situation of Young Workers.
Their objective of the survey is to draft a comprehensive policy statement on
young workers to be submitted to the 18th. Regional Conference.
c)
Overview on
Malaysia's Economy and Employment Policies
Malaysia is rich in natural
resources and primary commodities, and the country's economic grow at a very
satisfactory rate, 8 % per year from 1988
- 1997. It has reduced
unemployment and enjoying full employment rate since mid 1990 though the
country has 1.7 % foreign workers (Bank
Negara 1998).
Malaysia is also a multi racial country
with 2 main national groups- Bumiputeras and Non-Bumiputera. Bumiputeras refer
to Malays and other indigenous people while Non-Bumiputera refer to other
Malaysians of Chinese, Indian, Caucasian or other ethnic origins. It is
important to mention in the study that in Malaysian situation race is the key
factor that determines businesses, education policy, social policy, cultural
policy, entry into educational institutions, discounts to purchasing houses and
others as put it by Dr. Kua Kia Soong in his paper 'Racial Eyesores on the
Malaysian Landscapes'. Racism, which
has its origin in the colonial divide and rule strategy, continues to be used
as main pillar of our economic planning. The New Economic Policy (NEP: 1970
-1990) and the New Development Policy
(NDP: 1991-2000) as well as the Vision 2020 are all visions which is
based on the foundation of the racial set-up in the country. The vision talks
about a single, united and prosperous Malaysia by the year 2020.
In a paper presented by
Takeshi Inagami (Employment and Training Department, ILO) on Labour Market
Policies in Asian Countries which was published in 1998, summarized the labour
market and labour policy trend in Malaysia as follows:
"One of National Economic Policy's objectives,
in the context of plans for economic growth, was the elimination of poverty.
Another strand was the Bumiputra policy of seeking a re-structuring of
employment, which corresponded to the ethnic composition of the population. The
NEP achieved clear results in terms of employment creation, but was less
obviously successful in terms of "re-structuring society and
employment". In the early 1980s the development of heavy and chemical
industries under the ISI (ISI: import substitution industrialization) policy led
to the incurring of huge foreign debts, and in order to repay these debts
Malaysia came, from the mid-1980s onward, to adopt a fresh strategy, one of
EOI (EOI: export orientated
industrialization) led by foreign investment.
Two distinct phases of the EOI policy can be identified: in the late
1980s the approach was one of low-cost labor-intensive EOI, whereas from the
early 1990s onwards there was a shift of emphasis towards one of high
value-added, technology-intensive and capital-intensive industrialization."
Takeshi also reported that
in accordance to the EOI-foreign capital-led character, which is
capital-intensive and technology-oriented, the government played a central role
in creating appropriate human resource development policies. The function of
the private sector has gradually come to receive more emphasis. These measures
can be seen in general terms as a response to the qualitative component of the
labour shortage.
The second Industrial Master Plan (1996-2005) is a blueprint to guide Malaysia's quantum leap into the 21st Century as an industrial nation and a global market player. It calls for fundamental shift in emphasis, moving beyond manufacturing operations to include R & D and design capability development of integrated supporting industries, packaging, and distribution and marketing activities. Similarly, the government's policies via seventh five-year plan (1996-2000) also reported that economic constraint such as labor and skills shortage, productivity deficit would be addressed by turning Malaysian manufacturers into major players in the world market and by weaning them away from labor intensive industries. The plan also promotes investment in science and technology and emphasizes human resource development, especially greater efforts to address growing labor shortages in manufacturing, agriculture and services. It also reported that job creation would be replaced by minimization of labor inputs and maximization of quality and skills.
Based on the
Malaysian government's labour policy, it indicates that employment
opportunities are growing in Malaysia but unemployment rate seems to be
increasing too. Table 1.1 provides Malaysia's Key Economic Data between the
year 1995 to 2000. The National Income
based on Real Gross Domestic Product growth shows a 4.4 % decline over the past
6 years.
According to the
Ministry of Finance Malaysia, in it's Economic Report 1999/2000, Malaysia's Income per capita in
1998 is RM12, 134 (-1.5% growth) and increased 1.4% to reach RM12, 305 in 1999,
It is estimated to grow 4.7% (RM12,
883) in the year 2000. On the other hand, data on mean gross household income
and income share by income group in 1999 shows
that the top 20% own 50% share of the national income while the bottom
40% only own 14% (Human Development Report, 1996). According to a paper presented by Samsudin Hitam on 'Bumiputera
Achievements in Economic Sector 1999,' the average income of the bottom 40% is
only RM840 while the top 20% earn an average monthly income of RM7, 006. Anyhow, according to seventh Malaysia plan,
the absolute poverty rate has dropped from 20.7% in 1985 to 6.8% in 1997 but
many academicians as well as community and labour groups are not happy with the
official poverty line of 4.6 people each living in monthly income of
RM425.
Table
1.1- MALAYSIA: KEY ECONOMIC DATA 1995-2000
|
No. |
Item |
Year |
|||||
|
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999* |
2000** |
||
|
1. |
Population
(million) |
20.7 |
21.2 |
21.7 |
22.2 |
22.7 |
23.3 |
|
2. |
Real GDP
Growth (%) |
9.4 |
8.6 |
7.7 |
-7.5 |
4.3 |
5 |
|
3 |
GNP Per Capita (US $) |
|
4,543 |
4,377 |
3,093 |
3,255 |
3,349 |
|
4. |
Labour Force
(thousand)*** |
8,257 |
8,641 |
9,038 |
8,881 |
9,010 |
9,194 |
|
5. |
Labour Force
Growth (%) |
5.4 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
-1.7 |
1.5 |
2 |
|
6. |
Employment
(thousand) |
8,024 |
8,417 |
8,805 |
8,563 |
8,741 |
8,920 |
|
7. |
Employment
Growth (%) |
5.5 |
4.9 |
4.6 |
-2.5 |
1.7 |
2.1 |
|
8. |
Unemployment
Rate(%)*** |
2.8 |
2.6 |
2.6 |
3.2 |
3 |
3 |
|
*Estimates |
|||||||
2.1 General Trend Of Changing Positions Of Young Workers In The Changing
Labor Market, 1990-2000.
a)
Labour Force and Employment
Trend, 1990 -2000
According to the seventh (1996-2000) and the eighth
(2001-2005) Five year Malaysia Plan, youth population between the age group 15
-24 has increased 2.1 % a year from 3.58 million in 1990 to 3.97 million youths
in 1995. A further increase of 1.6 % is recorded from 4.03 million in 1995 to
4.37 million in the year 2000 as stated in the below table. It is estimated
that in year 2005, youth population in Malaysia between the age group 15-24
would grow to 4.98 million while those between the age 25-39 would increase to
5.83 million. Youths between the age
group 15-39 made up of 42.6% of overall Malaysia's population in 1995 and in
2000, they are reduced to 41.9%, still it is a very high proportion of the population.
Table 1.2- Malaysia: Distribution of Youths by Age Group, 1990-2000
(Million)
|
Age Group |
1990 |
% |
1995 |
% |
2000 |
% |
|
Less than 15 |
6.75 |
37.5 |
7.33 |
34.7 |
7.71 |
33.1 |
|
15 - 24 |
3.58 |
19.9 |
3.97 |
19.5 |
4.37 |
18.8 |
|
25-39 |
3.99 |
22.2 |
4.85 |
24.1 |
5.4 |
23.3 |
|
Above 39 |
3.66 |
20.4 |
4.54 |
21.7 |
5.79 |
24.8 |
|
Total |
17.98 |
100.0 |
20.69 |
100.0 |
23.27 |
100.0 |
Source: 7th.
& 8th.Malaysia's 5-Year Plan 1996-2005
Following is the distribution of labor force
according to age group, which is the total percentage of employed and
unemployed workers over a decade, abstracted from the Department of Statistics
Malaysia. Both the dispositions shows that youth population between the age group 15-24
is increasing gradually over the year yet the labor force for the same age
group is descending, for both male and female in Malaysia compare to those
between the age group 25-54.
Table 1.3-
Malaysia: Percentage Distribution of Labor Force by Age Group, 1990-2000
|
Age Group |
1990 |
1992 |
1993 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
|
15-64 15-24 25-54 |
100.0 29.2 65.1 |
100.0 27.8 66.2 |
100.0 26.7 67.6 |
100.0 25.4 68.7 |
100.0 25.7 68.5 |
100.0 25.1 69.1 |
100.0 23.8 70.4 |
100.0 23.8 70.6 |
100.0 23.3 70.9 |
Source:
Department of Statistics, Malaysia
The following table shows a comparison
of total labour force by age group and gender for the year 1990 and 2000.
Table1.4-