LABOUR COST IN MALAYSIA 2016 Final Report - National Labour Cost Survey 2016 (F | Page 49

3.4
Moving Forward: Recommendations
1. It is proposed that this labour cost survey be conducted on an annual basis. Annual data can
be used to develop a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of labour cost in
Malaysia, as well as to enable a more robust assessment of employment and wage policies.
In addition, the data could be used to assess the impact from the changes in labour cost at
both the national and industry levels.
2. A crucial component for a successful implementation of this survey on an annual basis is the
enforcement of the Employment Information Act 1953 to ensure full participation by the
establishments.
3. In the future, similar national surveys such as the National Employment Returns (NER),
National Wage Index and this Labour Cost Survey could be integrated to ensure a more
efficient data collection process and to reduce survey fatigue among respondents.
4. Subsequent labour cost surveys should incorporate public sector data as well to enable a
holistic evaluation of both public and private sector labour cost.
5. Analysis of this labour cost survey data should include comparison with other domestic
datasets such as the Labour Force Survey. Data from the Environmental Scan of selected
industries can also be leveraged to enhance the industry-level analysis.
6. Once a series of data is available, it could be analysed and benchmarked against labour cost
data from regional countries to better understand Malaysia’s labour cost changes and
position vis-à-vis other countries.
7. Based on the findings of this Labour Cost Survey 2016, the questionnaire should be further
refined to obtain additional essential information that was not captured in this first survey.
Please refer to the ‘Manual for Conducting National Labour Cost Survey’ for a list of the
proposed enhancements for the survey questionnaire.
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