Profitable manufacturers reluctant to pay locals better wages, says Johari | TheStarTV.com

Profitable manufacturers reluctant to pay locals better wages, says Johari

Published on 2 Nov 2026 1:19:11 PM

Efforts to reduce Malaysia's dependence on foreign workers and improve local livelihoods are being hampered by manufacturers who continue to offer minimum wages despite recording hundreds of millions of ringgit in profits.

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said some manufacturers remained reluctant to offer local workers even RM2,000 in monthly wages, preferring instead to maintain starting salaries at the RM1,700 minimum wage.

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news, thestartv, the star, foreign labour, wage, manufacturer, profit, tvet, graduates, locals, policy, johari abdul ghani, miti, mida

Efforts to reduce Malaysia's dependence on foreign workers and improve local livelihoods are being hampered by manufacturers who continue to offer minimum wages despite recording hundreds of millions of ringgit in profits.

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said some manufacturers remained reluctant to offer local workers even RM2,000 in monthly wages, preferring instead to maintain starting salaries at the RM1,700 minimum wage.

Read more at https://tinyurl.com/3yxw9wkz

WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Keywords:
news, thestartv, the star, foreign labour, wage, manufacturer, profit, tvet, graduates, locals, policy, johari abdul ghani, miti, mida

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