By Olivia Miwil - August 21, 2023 @ 4:16pm
KOTA KINABALU: Employers in Sabah should consider increasing the salary of workers here to ensure the availability of local workforce, said Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.
He said based on the National Statistics Department for the First Quarter 2023 Worker Wage Statistics Report (Formal Sector), the median income in Sabah was still low; at RM1,782 compared to Kuala Lumpur's RM3,927.
Sivakumar said he was aware that most employers in Sabah were small and medium-sized enterprises and could not afford to pay higher salary.
He also acknowledged that the payment of RM1,500 minimum wage was not enough, especially for workers staying in the town area with high cost of living.
Therefore, he suggested employers to progressively increase the salaries or provide necessary facilities to reduce their workers' burden.
"When employers here are paying very low salaries compared to other states, this will prompt workers to leave for other places, or even overseas.
"Employers will face difficulties in the future when there are not enough local workers and depend on foreign workers," he said during a press conference after launching the Sabah Level Labour Convention Series 2/2023 at Sabah International Convention Centre here.
Present was his deputy minister Mustapha Sakmud.
To address such issue, Sivakumar said the ministry hoped the Sabah Labour Advisory Council (SLAC) would help increase the median salary of the people in the state.
Earlier during the launch, he said Sabah cabinet had approved the establishment of the council on June 14.
"Through SLAC, any arising issues should be carefully considered, and all members within SLAC are expected to collaborate in sharing collective ideas to ensure that Sabah becomes one of the states that can provide high wages equivalent to other states such as Kuala Lumpur and Selangor."
Comments
Post a Comment