Unattractive salary has been floated as another factor discouraging locals from joining the labour-intensive industry monopolised by foreign workers.

However, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) Executive Director Shamsuddin Bardan begged to differ on the second point with regard to the construction, plantation, agricultural and manufacturing sectors.

He said the main reason why locals, particularly the youth were not interested in working in the 3D sector was because of society’s mentality and perception that such jobs “are lowly and without status.”

“The salary for plantation and farm workers are actually quite lucrative; for instance, an oil palm fruit harvester earns RM2,500 a month and a skilled bricklayer earns RM100 per day,” he told Bernama when contacted.

In contrast, Shamsuddin noted, the public service is looked at as a preferable employment option for job seekers.

“This is because of the presumption that, as a ‘government officer’, they would more likely be acknowledged and respected by society despite earning less than a ‘menial’ job employee,” he opined.

According to him, 85 to 90 per cent of the 400,000 workers in the construction sector and 80 per cent of the 700,000 workers in the plantation and agricultural sectors were foreigners.

“If you notice, there are no local workers in a ‘restoran mamak’ (Indian Muslim restaurant) and only a handful at fast food outlets such as KFC, McDonalds and Kenny Rogers,” he said.

Shamsuddin said employers should invest and shift from using conventional methods to new and modern equipment to minimise dependence on manual labour and to reduce operating costs.

“There are employers who do not want to invest in training their workers to operate modern equipment. Actually the workers can be trained to enhance their skill and qualify for a valid certificate.

“The government and relevant employers should sit down and discuss about finding ways to draw local workers to the sector and on how to make the latter feel proud of what they do,” he said.

– BERNAMA