Malaysia is a non-mature market as far as recruitment is concerned, which presents a mixture of opportunity and difficulty in equal measure
In broad brush strokes, recruiting in Malaysia means encountering the same issues inherent to many an up-and-coming or newly industrialised economy.
As described to Recruiter by in-house resourcing specialist Surbhi Rustogi, the country is in many ways “way behind in terms of technology”, although there are pockets of advancements. The “pathetic” local pay packets do little to overcome a market short of talent, adds Rustogi, who has experience across South-East Asia including Malaysia, previously working with Credit Suisse, before recently moving to Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City in search of a new challenge.
But there is one talent issue whose nuances are unique to Malaysia. Ethnic ‘locals’ are barely in the majority (see Key Indicators, below) — and the infamous Article 153 of the country’s constitution makes the King responsible for protecting the “special position” of the native 50% in the country. Something of an elephant in the room, the situation is very strongly one where “traditionally certain professions are more attractive to some parts of the population than others”, according to Dermot O’Hara, the Malaysian country manager for human capital solutions firm Consult Group.
“It can be unsettling,” adds O’Hara, speaking of experiences where a specific racial preference is made by an employer, “though often the key driver is an attempt at inclusion… as opposed to exclusion.” A pervasive social issue, albeit one “government has worked hard to address”, O’Hara adds, with the Malay-dominated public sector in particular seeing diversity initiatives. “I think it’s a very slow change,” says Rustogi.
Another issue O’Hara sees government “making serious attempts to deal with” is brain drain. This problem is illustrated by Danny Wilkey, a careers consultant at the London School of Economics, where 7% of undergraduates were Malaysian last year. A small survey found less than half returning home after graduating.
“The relative skills shortage in Malaysia and the global brand of LSE make them particularly attractive to Malaysian employers,” he says, but also “very marketable to global recruiters”.
The opportunities are there back home for young Malaysians. The country is a popular destination for outsourcing and IT service provision, and its energy market and infrastructure are also touted for growth. Much development is being channelled through government plans and Government Linked Companies (GLCs).
This in turn means opportunities for recruiters — East Anglian firm Cooper Lomaz Recruitment is just one UK name taking advantage of this in the energy space. In fact, the firm finds little issue with being eight hours behind Malaysia. Joint managing director Jane Lovell says a “major benefit for clients in Malaysia” is that the firm has “a ‘lead time’, as when the working day in South-East Asia is complete, time is still available from the UK to service Malaysian operations”.
Meanwhile, Rustogi suggests “huge potential for RPOs [recruitment process outsourcing firms] to grow”. Cynthia Lim, a senior manager at local professional recruiter EPS Consultants, says that “there are many firms running without a proper recruitment licence”.
With such firms able to charge lower fees due to not having to deal with that licensing cost, Lim tells Recruiter she is concerned government does not have “proper control” over the matter. And it is this type of situation that again highlights the mixture of opportunity and difficulty in a non-mature market.
Key Indicators
Of Malaysia’s 29m people, around half are of Malay ethnolinguistic group or indigenous to present-day Malaysia; a third trace their ethnic routes to China.
The government portal for (licensed) private employment agencies can be found at aps.jobsmalaysia.gov.my.
Malaysia’s currency is the ringgit (MYR). £1 = 4.65MYR, 1MYR = $0.33
Official language is Bahasa Malaysia (Malay). English is widely used and has some official status.
The Wawasan 2020 (Vision 2020) plan to make Malaysia a high-income nation by 2020 includes Talentcorp, a scheme to attract ex-pat Malaysians back home. See talentcorp.com.my for more.
sam.burnejames@recruiter.co.uk
