KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are willing to work, but jobs must offer enough economic value to make them worth taking, says Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
The Investment, Trade and Industry Minister said employers should look beyond simply claiming that Malaysians were unwilling to work and instead ask whether the wages offered made the jobs attractive enough.
“When people ask me, ‘Datuk, we have offered the job but workers do not want to take it’, I ask them, ‘What are you offering? What salary?’
“If you offer RM1,700, does that job have enough economic value for a Malaysian?”, he told reporters after officiating the Voices of HER Forum 2026 on Tuesday (Sept 8).
Johari said Malaysians were willing to travel long distances for better-paying jobs, citing those who commute to Singapore daily despite spending more than an hour each way.
He said some Malaysians might instead choose gig work, such as e-hailing, because it offered immediate income and greater flexibility to manage family commitments.
Johari said employers needed to recognise that Malaysian workers had families, education and qualifications, and should therefore be offered fair wages.
He said Malaysia must also gradually reduce its reliance on foreign workers, with foreign labour mainly used for 3D jobs, namely dirty, dangerous and difficult work.
Industries applying for foreign workers should explain what 3D jobs required foreign labour, while applications for other positions should state the salary, entry-level requirements and qualifications, he said.
“We cannot simply approve foreign workers too easily. If you have 1,000 workers today, we should gradually reduce it. If we reduce 20%, that means 200 fewer workers over time,” he said.
Johari said greater automation was needed across industries, including micro, small and medium enterprises, to reduce dependence on foreign labour.
He said reliance on cheaper foreign labour had allowed some businesses to keep costs low, but could also discourage them from investing in automation.
This could create an uneven playing field, with companies employing more foreign workers enjoying lower costs than those investing in technology.
Johari said automation and digitalisation would help create a more level playing field while reducing Malaysia’s dependence on foreign labour.
