SINCE the construction industry requires sufficient planning to meet various challenges and needs of the competition in the age of globalisation, locals should get involved in the sector, and more encouraging initiatives are required to increase the local participation in the industry.
This ongoing issue has always been the talk of the town, and the government’s latest decision to allow only three industries to hire foreign workers – construction, plantation and agriculture – is a smart move to reduce our reliance on foreign workers.
It relates to the statement by Deputy Human Resources Minister Awang Hashim in Parliament that other sectors currently using foreign workers will be required to employ locals.
The common perception of the people that the construction sector is less attractive compared to others has increased. Plus, it also fails to attract local attention because most of the locals are more interested in venturing into other industries that are usually classier, coupled with better job security.
The Malaysian Department of Statistics reported the unemployment rate in May increased to 5.3% from 5% in April and the number of unemployed people increased by 47,300 to 826,100 individuals due to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.
The participation of locals in the construction industry may be part of the solution to the unemployment rate of our country as this can be one of the successful alternatives in providing jobs to local people while soothing them to be worry less about their future careers.
It is also in line with the Emir Research Quarterly Poll for the first quarter of 2020 (1Q20) which indicates that the lack of job opportunities is one of the rakyat’s worry indicators in the National Worry Index (NWI). The score on the scale ranged from 0 to 1 was 0.78, showing a maximum worried rakyat.
Local skilled labour is also seen to be the problem because foreign workers seem to be more proficient in the industry than local workforce, and this is also why most construction companies tend to hire foreign workers for their willingness, speed and better quality of work.
According to a study conducted by Universiti Teknologi Mara, the factors that may lead to the shortage of local skilled labour are low wage guarantee, unfortunate career path, poor image of the industry and work environment, and level of education.
The factors mentioned earlier will become the border stone that hinders most of our country’s efforts to ensure more participation of local skilled workforce in the construction sector. Thus, an in-depth analysis should be carried out to help the government undertake several significant measures to resolve the issues.
The study also suggested the best way to increase the participation of local skilled workforce in the construction industry is by commercialising the skills to be more attractive and encouraging initiatives such as Continuous Contractor Development Programme, and increase more training programmes and implement specialised training, especially for local youths in improving their skills.
And the government should also provide incentives to smaller companies to train local labour, increase the salaries or wages of the local workforce, and restrict and minimise the recruitment of foreign workers in the construction industry.
Although it may seem impossible, the great way to attract the local people’s interest is by giving them more benefits and convincing them the construction industry is not just the alternative after struggling to secure any jobs.
It is, in fact, a part of the critical sectors, and if the right government assistance is there, it will undoubtedly have greater job security, reasonable remuneration and benefits.
So, the government should take any emerging issues within the industry seriously to maintain the industry’s achievement to remain the catalyst of growth because the sector contributed 4.5% to the Gross Domestic Product in 1Q20.
The construction sector should be the priority for the good of our country, as it plays a vital role in generating wealth and providing the nation with a better quality of life which is necessary for the country’s development.
Before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the performance of the construction industry is excellent as the sector recovered by 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019 (4Q19) compared to a contraction of -0.6% in the previous quarter.
However, the impact of the virus has exacerbated the situation because, after that fourth quarter’s recovery, the value of construction work done in 1Q20 contracted by 6.3%.
Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) chief executive Datuk Ir Ahmad’s Asri Abdul Hamid also reported that the sector recorded RM11 billion losses during the first phase of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Besides, only 23% of the total construction sites inspected by CIDB had yet to start operations before July 2020, and the CIDB survey showed the critical problem was the labour shortage, as most construction companies depend on migrant labour.
Most of the migrant labours were not permitted to enter Malaysia when the MCO came into effect and did not come forward for Covid-19 screening, thereby preventing them from returning to work.
Therefore, because the construction sector is expected to create a low-hanging opportunity for the government to pump-prime the economy, locals’ involvement in the industry should be increased to provide a sigh of relief to the construction industry.
Farhan Kamarulzaman is a research assistant at EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.
