Stats dept to release salary report quarterly to address wage gap issue, says Rafizi

SUNGAI BULOH: The government will soon release the National Statistics Department’s Salaries and Wages Survey Report on a quarterly basis as opposed to annually now, says Rafizi Ramli.

The Economy Minister said that this move would allow employees to be more sensitive to the labour market demand and avoid being underemployed.

“While the government focuses on handling living cost issues by controlling the prices of daily items, we also need to emphasise the issues of low-wage and widening wage gaps.

“This move will help society when it comes to their wages. And by making the report public more regularly, it will become a good benchmark (when it comes to getting employed),” he told reporters after launching the Belanjawan Guide and Mobile Application at the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) headquarters here on Tuesday (June 13).

Rafizi also said that it would make the labour market more competitive in terms of hiring talents.

“However, of course we can’t leave it to the market alone. The government will also be involved in terms of policies, incentives and frameworks.

“We can’t allow the wage gap issue to be resolved by itself. There must be a pathway, and with the compiled data, it will allow the labour market to be more dynamic and agile,” he said.

Rafizi said that the initiative will be implemented by next month, following approval from the Cabinet.

“The data is already available. However, I will need to present it to the Cabinet first and wait for the chief statistician to return from haj too,” he said.

The report includes the number of employed individuals and median wage based on job categories, age groups and education achievement.