Workforce Development in Malaysia
A Brief Overview of the Labor Landscape in this Dynamic Southeast Asian Country
It can be all too easy to visit a country and focus on the visible: how people dress, the price of food, the different social norms. But it’s what people do for a living, and the challenges that they face in earning that living, where you can really understand a country’s story.
Being a foreigner living in Malaysia for the last 8 months, it surprised me how little I actually knew about the workforce dynamics and labor history. This article is a brief attempt to correct that gap in my own knowledge, and perhaps highlight some interesting insights about Malaysia’s economy.
A Historical Primer on Malaysia’s Plural Society
Rich in natural resources, the region was under foreign occupation by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British traders who were extracting rubber and tin, and expanding into palm oil production. With increased migration from Chinese and Indian workers, the population of the native Malays went from 90% in the early 1800s to around 50% by 1931.
The Federation of Malaya achieved independence on August 31st, 1957. What is East Malaysia today — the territories of Sabah and Sarawak, on the island of Borneo — joined the…
