00:00To our minister today, we have a keynote address. Thank you so much.
00:09Stagnant rich growth and limited expansion of high-skilled job opportunities contribute to the diminishing purchasing power
00:20and invariably create a deeper sense of economic insecurity among Malaysians.
00:26From 2010 to 2022, the median monthly wages of employees in Malaysia, former sector,
00:35has shown relatively slow growth of just 4.1% per annum from RM1,500 to RM2,424
00:48in terms of nominal wages, while the real wage growth is more concerning at 3.1% per annum.
00:58The troubling reality is when 56% of Malaysian workers earn below the recommended living wage of RM3,047 per month,
01:11with Malaysia being one of the countries with the lowest household savings for the low and semi-skilled workers.
01:19Ladies and gentlemen, the Progressive Wage Policies, PWP, set to be implemented in October this year,
01:28is anticipated to positively impact wage stagnation by ensuring fair compensation for employees' productivity and efforts.
01:39This is indeed a step in the right direction, but the overall impact of wages is expected to be relatively worse.
01:47However, the PWP must be complemented by larger-scale efforts.
01:54One crucial effort is to move up the value chain in markets and transition our society towards skilled industries.
02:02This should involve creating more high-skilled jobs, which typically attract greater foreign investors,
02:09and spur economic growth, which ultimately exerts positive upward pressure on wages.
02:16Ladies and gentlemen, Recent data from Malaysia's Department of Statistics show that job creation is predominantly in semi-skilled roles,
02:26accounting for 61.9% of the 321,000 new jobs in the first quarter of this year.
02:35High-skilled jobs make up 27.5%, but they remain below pre-pandemic levels seen in 2018 and 2019,
02:48indicating a recovery towards semi-skilled employment.
02:53This is also a concerning rise in low-skilled job creation, increasing from an average of 7.26% per quarter from 2018 to 2021,
03:08to 10.5% for the first quarter of this year, reflecting shifting labour market dynamics.
03:15To address this trend, Malaysia needs robust strategies to boost high-skilled jobs growth,
03:23especially for youth.
03:27Educational institutions play a critical role by aligning programmes with industry needs,
03:34promoting innovation through research and development, and supporting entrepreneurship through incubators and accelerators.
03:44These efforts can diversify and strengthen the job market better, meeting the country's economic demands and workforce aspirations.
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