KUALA LUMPUR (May 9): Manufacturers have called for government support to address talent drain by allowing skilled foreign workers to be brought in while locals are trained.

Relying solely on local training would not be enough, said Christina Tee Kim Chin, president of the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI). The industry could not wait for enough talents to be trained, requiring state intervention to import and upskill talents, she noted.

“Please allow the transition [by allowing the industry to source talents] from overseas so that they can train our people faster,” Tee said. “Those are the talents that I urged our government to give us freedom to import without any limit.”

Tee, the chief executive of electronic manufacturing services firm Cape EMS Bhd (KL:CEB), was speaking as a panelist in the National Economic Forum 2024 hosted by The National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM).

Previously, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz had proposed allowing foreign graduates of local institutes of higher education to work temporarily in the country in certain fields such as the high-tech sector.

Allowing foreign graduates of local institutes of higher education to work temporarily in the country would supply skilled manpower to the local industry, Tengku Zafrul had said.

Thousands of Malaysians seek brighter prospects abroad annually in what has been called brain drain that the World Bank said could hurt the country’s ambition of joining the ranks of advanced economies that include Singapore.

“Malaysia has lost out 20 years of manufacturing skills, so we need to get all these talents back,” Tee continued, and with the rise of artificial intelligence, “we need to attract and retain talent to leverage this new landscape.”

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai meanwhile noted the importance of having enough talent to support the country’s goal of transitioning into a high-income nation.

“Under the proposed progressive wage policy, one of the important components is for reskilling and upskilling,” Soh, who is also the president of NCCIM, the host of Thursday's event, urged the government to “work together with Human Resources Development Corp on how to have this reskill and upskill”.

Progressive wage policy is an initiative aimed at improving wages and worker skills development. The voluntary programme is set to take effect from June this year and that involves employees earning a monthly salary below RM5,000 working in a formal sector.

Companies participating in this programme will be eligible to receive cash incentives from the government of up to RM200 monthly for 12 months for fresh graduates and entry level posts, while for non-entry-level posts, the incentive rate is proposed to be up to RM300 monthly for 12 months.

“Investors cannot wait four more years,” Tengku Zafrul had stressed previously. “For example, the electrical and electronics industry needs 50,000 engineers” while Malaysia’s higher education system only produces 5,000 graduates a year, he had said.

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