KUALA LUMPUR: While artificial intelligence (AI) offers exciting opportunities for economic growth and innovation, it also poses significant risks to the labour market if not handled responsibly, says Steven Sim.
The Human Resources Minister said AI was already beginning to reshape the employment landscape in Malaysia, describing it as an ethics-neutral tool.
"Enhancing productivity for work also means the potential to enhance productivity for criminal activity — for instance, scammers.
“AI is definitely an opportunity for new growth, but it is also a real risk, especially to our job market,” he said during a speech at the Workshop on Empowering Job Seekers: Digital Platform Best Practices from OIC Member Countries on Tuesday (July 8).
Sim shared a personal experience from the previous day, where he came across a seemingly genuine comment generated by AI on his Facebook post. The comment, tailored to the original content, urged readers to click a link — which led to a scam site.
“This is the latest evolution. It shows how AI is being misused to manipulate people in increasingly convincing ways,” he said.
He cited a study by the Human Resources Ministry released late last year, which found that up to 600,000 jobs in Malaysia could be affected by AI over the next three to five years.
“The same report also indicates that hundreds of thousands of new jobs will be created through the AI revolution. Some of these roles are no longer just projections — they are already being advertised,” Sim noted.
He stressed that AI and digital tools must be incorporated into public employment services — not only to improve service delivery but also to build awareness of associated risks.
Highlighting Malaysia’s proactive approach, Sim said the government had recently agreed to amend legislation to enhance the role of PERKESO (Social Security Organisation) as a key provider of public employment services.
A cornerstone of this effort is the MyFutureJobs portal, launched in 2020, which uses AI to facilitate efficient job matching and provides personalised recruitment services to both employers and job seekers.
On average, the portal offers between 1.5 million and 2 million job vacancies annually, registers around 500,000 job seekers, and achieves a placement rate of 60% to 70% each year.
“In the first five months of this year alone, MyFutureJobs registered 111,459 job seekers, listed 633,665 job vacancies, and successfully placed 74,576 individuals into employment,” he added.
He said the data collected via the platform plays a crucial role in shaping labour market reforms, feeding back into policy decision-making at the ministry and PERKESO through data analytics.
In April, the government launched an AI-enabled National Labour Market Exchange to share these analytics with the public and encourage more research, analysis, and informed discussion about the Malaysian labour market.
To further strengthen the digital ecosystem, the Prime Minister launched the MyFutureJobs mobile app on May Day this year. This was followed by the rollout of One-Stop Labour Service Centres in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru from June 1, integrating various labour-related services under one roof.
“Within just one month, these centres recorded about 10,000 visitors,” Sim said.
He noted the government’s whole-of-government approach to labour reform, with PERKESO playing a central role, had helped bring unemployment down to a 10-year low of 3.1%.
“Underemployment has also improved — from 37.4% in 2023 to 36% in the fourth quarter of last year, and further to 34.3% in the first quarter of this year,” he said.
Malaysia’s statutory minimum wage rose by 13% this year, while the national median monthly wage increased by 11%, crossing the RM3,000 mark for the first time.
“These are significant achievements, but we are aware that the journey towards labour market reform must not only continue, but accelerate,” Sim added.
