Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
The study, which covered 21,000 individuals and 6,000 employers in 20 countries,
found only 60% of Malaysian employers felt that those above 50 years were at
least as productive as younger workers compared with 64% in Asia and 71% globally.
<p>Around 82% of Malaysian employers felt that older workers were at least as
reliable as the younger ones (compared with 85% in Asia and 86% globally), and
only 42% perceived that older workers were at least as flexible as the younger
ones (compared with 54% in Asia and 58% globally). </p>
<p>Malaysian employers also ranked behind their Asian and global counterparts
when asked if older workers were more loyal (85% compared with 89% in Asia and
88% globally), motivated (52% compared with 66% in Asia and 71% globally), and
quick learners (25% compared with 34% in Asia and 44% globally). </p>
<p>They, however, outranked Asia and global employers (63% compared with 34% in
Asia and 44% globally) when asked if the older ones were at least as technologically
oriented as younger workers. </p>
<p>Oxford Institute of Ageing director Dr Sarah Harper said Malaysian employers
did not seem to realise that demographics of the country were changing. </p>
<p>HSBC Group GM and Deputy Chairman & CEO Zarir J Cama (second form left),
Dr Sarah Harper, (left) , HSBC Deputy Head Group Retirement Businesses Richard
Jones (second from right) and HSBC GM Personal Financial Services U Chen Hock
(right) at the Overview on the Malaysia Survey results launch. </p>
<p>She said the main reasons Malaysian employers did not do more to hire or retain
older workers were that the work was too physical to employ people past a certain
age (33%), older workers were not as capable (28%), not as valuable (18%), more
expensive (16%), government policies got in the way (15%), it was not an urgent
issue (14%), and unions got in the way (6%). </p>
<p>“Only 37% of Malaysian employers offered older workers the opportunity
to pursue new jobs, and 29% offered them the opportunity to work fewer hours,”
she added. </p>
<p>Harper said 48% of employers saw workers retiring as an opportunity to make
room for new workers, and only 40% saw it as a loss of knowledge and skills.
</p>
<p>She said Malaysian employers would have to re-assess their position because
of lower birth rate, an ageing population and people wanted to continue working
past traditional retirement ages, with 72% rejecting the notion of mandatory
retirement age. </p>
<p>“We feel employers are not doing enough to retain older workers, which
puts the continuity of the corporate culture at risk and raises the prospect
of a worsening future skills shortage and experience drain.”
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com