PETALING JAYA: The government's bid to boost local skilled labour in the construction sector to sustain the country's economy may not be feasible in the near future as such shift is fraught with many challenges, said Datuk Koong Lin Loong.

The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) treasurer-general said the change would not be possible in the short term as the construction industry is currently involved heavily in the development of various infrastructures in the country and are dependent on foreign workers.

He said it is insufficient to merely train locals for industries that are heavily reliant on a foreign workforce.

"Even when they are trained and skilled, they need to have on-the-job experience.

"What are the remunerations they can expect?

"Moreover, we have created an "ecosystem" where a certain job especially when it is 3D (dirty, dangerous, difficult) in nature is meant for foreign workers and Malaysians do not want to take it up.

"This mindset needs to change and only then can we make localising the workforce work," he told The Star.

Koong said while it was feasible to replace the foreign workforce with local workers in some sectors, there are certain jobs that Malaysians may never take up.

He said the manufacturing industry is among the sectors that can have its workforce fully replaced with skilled local workers.

Koong suggested that to encourage the hiring of locals, the government should offer incentives to employers such as wage subsidies.

"There must be a detailed masterplan prior to executing such goals to switch the foreigners for local workers.

"Incentives must be offered to employers otherwise they will just stick to foreigners who are cheaper and easier to hire," he said.

On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government will incur long-term losses if the construction sector continues to rely on foreign workers.

He urged construction companies to prioritise local skilled labour when hiring workers in the sector.

In June, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof had also urged the construction sector to reduce dependency on low-skilled foreign workers.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/08/08/acccim-mindsets-must-change-to-boost-skilled-local-construction-labour