PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) yesterday expressed confidence in the government’s handling of the economy, which has demonstrated remarkable resilience, achieving a robust growth rate of 5.9% in the second quarter of 2024.
At its annual general meeting yesterday, its president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman (pic), said the impressive performance was driven primarily by stronger domestic demand and a significant export expansion.
“Investment activities have remained solid, supported by the steady progress of multi-year projects and the growth in capacity undertaken by numerous companies.
“Exports also saw a remarkable improvement, buoyed by higher external demand and the positive ripple effects from the global tech upcycle. On the supply side, nearly all sectors registered growth.”
Syed Hussain said the manufacturing sector benefited from broad improvement across all clusters, especially in the electrical and electronics industry. In contrast, the services sector experienced strong growth driven by the robust performance of consumer and business-related subsectors.
“In the second quarter of 2024, unemployment declined to 3.3%, which is a testament to the strengthening job market, inflation tapered to 1.9% indicating a stable economic environment, and the ringgit appreciated against the US dollar by 0.2%, reflecting improved investor confidence.”
However, he said despite all these positives, human resource needs are still not being given priority through the hiring of foreign workers. Over the past year, the business community has had to contend with changes in workforce dynamics and recruitment environments.
“So, it is sad to see businesses having to reject orders as they cannot deliver due to worker shortages.”
Syed Hussain said in 2023, the government expressed intention to instal a foreign workers’ management centre under the Human Resources Ministry to streamline processes and enhance efficiency.
“We supported this move, but in recent developments, the Home Affairs Ministry wants to take charge of labour migration. Government and businesses must work seamlessly for the benefit of all parties. Hence, it should focus on the plight of worker shortages, especially by small and medium sized enterprises.”
On the Progressive Wage Policy (PWP) proposed on Nov 30, 2023, MEF called for a transparent rollout of cash incentives to encourage local businesses to adopt it.
“Clear guidelines are needed so that employers can understand and decide for themselves if they can afford to implement the PWP without government assistance.”
