Penang faces talent and foreign worker shortage

GEORGE TOWN: Penang's industrial sector is facing a shortage of talent and foreign workers especially in its two major economic pillars of manufacturing and services.
Special Advisor to the Penang Chief Minister, Datuk Lee Kah Choon (pix), said manufacturing of electrical and electronic products and the services sectors are most affected.
"The current policies set by the federal government such as the freeze on foreign worker intake has resulted in the shortage of talent and labour.
"The talent shortage is faced not only by the local industrial sector but also by companies worldwide," he said at a press conference at Penang Skills Development Centre here today.
Lee said Penang has a population of 1.7 million with 810,00 workers, with over 60% in the services sector and 33.5% in manufacturing.
"Penang's unemployment rate, however, is very low at less than 2%.
"We forecast that 5,485 jobs will be created in the manufacturing industry in five years' time," he said, adding six global merger and acquisitions this year have steered Penang into the next phase of development and enhanced its economy.
Meanwhile, Lee said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would face a drop in workforce strength once the Minimum Wage Order 2016 is implemented next month.
"The SMEs will have to increase productivity with fewer workers with the RM1,000 minimum wage.
"Some SMEs nationwide that pay about RM900 per month to their workers will have to shrink their workforce in order to implement the new minimum wage which is set at RM1,000 per month in Peninsular Malaysia and RM920 in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan," he said. — Bernama