Malaysian oil and gas workers are being lured away from home by foreign companies, leading to a shortage of skilled labour, according to the deputy director-general of the country's Manpower department.
Multinational oil and gas firms based in Singapore and the Middle East are attracting Malaysian workers with higher salaries, Syed Mohamad Noor Syed Mat Ali told The Star.
He added that foreign countries were reaping the benefits of Malaysia’s efforts to train locals, who subsequently left to work abroad.
“There is nothing much that Malaysia can do to stop highly skilled locals in the O&G sector from working in other countries,” said Mr Mohamad Noor.
Mr Mohamad Noor said that a certified welder working offshore in Malaysia could expect to earn the equivalent of up to 50,000 baht per month.
The same worker could earn up to the equivalent of 120,000 baht per month in Singapore or up to the equivalent of 300,000 baht per month in the Middle East.
He claimed that the only way to stop highly skilled Malaysians from working in foreign countries was to provide them with a good monthly salary and benefits package.
Mr Mohamad Noor said the Manpower department would continue to train highly skilled workers at its 23 industrial training institutes and five advanced technical centres.
He said that 23% of Malaysians are highly skilled workers, a figure the country aims to increase to 33% by 2015 and 50% by 2020.
“We have shifted our focus from producing semi-skilled workforce previously to highly skilled Malaysians, in line with the country's aspiration to become a developed nation by 2020," he said.
Mr Mohamad Noor compared the problems faced by Malaysia’s oil and gas industry to the aviation sector, which has lost experienced local pilots to better-paying foreign airlines, especially those from the Middle East.
- Bangkok Post