IN August 2019, Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran used a new job category when he said that Malaysia needs “new collar” employees with technical, vocational and soft skills to meet industry demands in order to enable the country to achieve high income nation status.
Most Malaysians are familiar with the terms “white collar” and “blue collar” jobs. The term “white-collar”, derived from the colour of the dress shirts worn by European and American office workers in the 19th and 20th centuries, generally refers to persons who perform managerial or administrative work in an office or administrative setting and who are paid monthly salaries.