Grab Malaysia to hire; run more regional services

the opening of new office - which will house Grab’s seventh Research & Development (R&D) Centre as well as the expansion of its regional support and services functions based in Malaysia

E-hailing company Grab will almost double its staff size in Malaysia as it plans to run more of its regional operations from here.

Grab Malaysia country head Sean Goh says that the new office in Bandar Utama, called the Regional Centre of Excellence, can accommodate 400 more new staff – it currently has about 600 employees.

He says that the company is looking to expand its data scientist, legal, marketing, finance and customer service departments.

“The Malaysian tech and engineering team will play a pivotal role in setting a high bar for safety standards in South-East Asia and achieving our goal of zero preventable incidents on the platform,” he says.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darell Leiking commended Grab for heeding the government’s call for quality investments by creating high value jobs locally.

“We are happy to see Grab contributing back to Malaysia and committing to nurturing local tech talents and facilitating knowledge transfer through the R&D centre,” he said at the launch.

Goh says the company is also putting in place measures to help its drivers get training and on-the-spot medical checks in order to comply with the new rules set by the Transport Ministry.

He adds that Grab would also defray any cost incurred by its drivers because of this though he didn’t share how it plans to make the reimbursement.

Last year, the Transport Ministry announced that e-hailing drivers will have to adhere to the same rules as taxi drivers by the middle of this year.

E-hailing drivers will also have to apply for a PSV (Public Service Vehicle) licence and their vehicles must be ranked at least three stars by the New Car Assessment Programme for Asean Countries (Asean NCAP).

Grab will also have to provide insurance coverage for drivers, vehicles, passengers and third parties.

Goh says Grab is continuing to discuss the matter with the government, saying there is still room for improvement.