‘Happy to do the bare minimum’: Fears rising that Johor’s brain drain has worsened its work culture

“But when you cut it and dissect it further, you’ll realise that 60 per cent of Malaysians abroad are in Singapore,” said Mr Mathew.

He said that TalentCorp has focused its efforts on pulling back talent from Singapore via the Returning Expert Programme. 

The programme includes the Malaysia@Heart initiative, which offers incentives for skilled Malaysians who wish to return from abroad. 

These incentives include an optimal 15 per cent flat tax rate on chargeable employment income for five consecutive years as well as granting PR status to foreign spouses and children who are eligible, subject to the approval and discretion of the Malaysia Immigration Department. 

However, according to data released by TalentCorp, only 17 per cent of those who have successfully returned to Malaysia via REP were from Singapore. This is a small proportion given that six out of ten Malaysians based overseas are in Singapore. 

“We are happy with what we are achieving (but) when you look at the total population based overseas, naturally this is never sufficient,” said Mr Mathew. 

However, Mr Mathew remains optimistic that most Malaysians based abroad would one day come back to serve the economy due to the emotional attachment and national identity many of them have.

“Our study shows that 85 per cent of Malaysians based overseas want to return back to Malaysia at some point in time,” he said. 

CREATING MORE SKILLED JOBS

To attract more skilled workers to return home or locals to stay back and pick up better skills and better jobs, the Malaysia federal government is keen to attract more investments to Johor, which will boost the number of skilled jobs available for the workforce. 

According to figures from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), out of a working population of 15.39 million people in 2022 nationally, 29.6 per cent of them are categorised as skilled while 12 per cent are low-skilled. More than half – 58.4 per cent were under the semi-skilled category. 

Deputy Minister of Trade, Investment and Industry Liew Chin Tong told CNA that the country’s economy has been dependent on skilled foreign labour “for the longest time” and that local workers, including those in Johor, have struggled for higher skilled positions. 

“We play in the low cost and low productivity sphere, and this hasn’t changed,” he said, adding that the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 plans to boost the number of high-paying manufacturing jobs in Johor over the next seven years. 

He highlighted that the number of jobs in the manufacturing sectors is expected to increase to 3.3 million by 2030 at a compound annual growth rate of 2.3 per cent, with a significant number of them in Johor. 

Furthermore, he added that the median wage for the manufacturing sector is expected to increase nationally from RM1,976 in 2021 to RM4,510 by 2030.

“At some point we could help industry upgrade their technology, automate to use less labour and therefore pushing up manufacturing wages,” said Mr Liew, who is also chief of the Johor chapter for the Democratic Action Party. 

Mr Liew said that Johor, with its abundant land and good industrial infrastructure, is well placed to lead the way by persuading companies to rely less on skilled foreign labour, and more on technology and automation.

“If we can actually push up the manufacturing wages substantially, this will provide a sizable number of skilled jobs for Malaysians to consider.

“Those who are already in Singapore, it is not easy for them to come back. But those who have not left yet if they find that jobs in Malaysia pay, they will reconsider.” 

MALAYSIA SEEKS COLLABORATION, NOT COMPETITION, WITH SINGAPORE 

To overcome the talent brain drain in Johor, the Malaysia government is seeking to collaborate, rather than compete, with Singapore, a point that TalentCorp chief Mr Mathew agreed with.

He said that both countries should work together, instead of trying to pinch talents from one another. 

He cited one way to do this was the recent announcement of a new Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which could boost job opportunities for young local Johoreans without having to cross the Causeway. 

The governments of both countries had agreed to set up a task force to study a possible SEZ following the 16th meeting of the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia (JMCIM) in July.

In a release then, the committee said the Johor-Singapore SEZ would build on the foundation set by the various work groups to drive sustainable growth, develop human capital, and improve infrastructure and connectivity.

On Sep 14, Johor chief minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi said that Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim would be discussing the terms of reference (TOR) of the proposed SEZ with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong during their upcoming Leaders’ Retreat in October. 

“I think that is probably the way to go, and then you’ll probably find some sort of balance with respect to wages between the two countries,” said Mr Mathew.

Deputy minister Liew also outlined that firms in Singapore need a hinterland and production site, and that Johor is well positioned to provide these.