LABOUR market conditions and job creation are reportedly very important issues in the upcoming US presidential election. There have been concerns that jobs are leaving the US shores to other cheaper countries such as India and China, and it is not just about assembly jobs but also the white-collar high paying jobs.
In Malaysia, there have been cases of investors packing their bags and heading towards lower-costs countries. Fortunately, the numbers are not alarming. During the period from January to Aug 7, 2004, about 1,023 workers were laid off due to relocation of firms to foreign countries, out of a total of 14,057 retrenched. This merely reflects the on-going structural transformation in Malaysia’s manufacturing sector, where labour-intensive industries will have to locate to cost competitive areas to stay afloat, while higher value-added activities can still operate in this country.
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