Analysis of non-citizen employment in Malaysia’s labour market / Suhaida Mohd Amin and Nur Nazirah Abd Shukor

This article will discuss the employment of non-citizens or foreign workers in Malaysia’s labour market. It examines the employment of domestic and foreign employees in Malaysia's labour market between 2000 and 2022. The second objective is to compare the number of domestic and foreign workers by industry, employment status, and occupation for the years 2018 and 2022. The employment of non-citizen employees in Malaysia's labour market during a 22-year period is examined using a descriptive research methodology. The statistics in this article are based on time series data and a labour force survey report from the Department of Statistics Malaysia. The explanation and discussion of the analysis are sourced from newspapers, journals, and reports. The percentage of employed foreign workers in Malaysia began to rise in 2010 and showed a slight decrease starting in 2019. The sectors that are focused on are agriculture, manufacturing, and services. Besides, the percentage of foreign workers is high among low-skill workers. This situation illustrates that there is still a high level of dependence on foreign workers, even though it has been targeted to be reduced since the 8th Malaysian Plan. The data utilised in this study is solely derived from secondary sources. The qualitative analysis of studies can provide insights into the reasons behind the lack of substantial progress in reducing reliance on foreign employees. This finding is important as it will contribute a lot to knowledge and literature. The analysis could also serve as the basis for a deeper study of foreign workers in Malaysia. The information in this article supports the statistics that show the dependence on foreign workers in the labour market in Malaysia. The discussion in this article is important as a starting point for more detailed research related to foreign workers.