Malaysian Employment Restructuring Policies: Effectiveness and Prospects under the Fourth Malaysia Plan, 1980-85

Abstract

ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL objectives of Malaysia's New Economic Policy, formulated in the aftermath of the riots in May 1969, is employment restructuring to increase the representation of Malays in the non-agricultural sector and thereby eradicate rural poverty and eliminate economic imbalances in the country.' Since 1970 employment restructuring policies have been actively followed and by 1990 are expected to bring ethnic employment distribution in the modern sector of the economy into line with the racial composition of the population. This policy target refers not just to an aggregate ethnic employment share, but covers the entire job hierarchy with particular stress on the upper occupational categories. The Malaysian government is currently investing large amounts in training and educating Malay manpower to qualify them for modern sector jobs, while relying on economic growth, particularly in the manufacturing and service sectors, to provide the required job opportunites. This article reviews the progress achieved under the employment restructuring policy during the first half of the twenty-year program spanning 1970-90, and it critically examines the prospects under the recently published Fourth Malaysia Plan covering 1980-85.