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Malaysia: Average monthly wages down 9% in 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: Mean monthly salaries and wages fell 9% to RM2, 933 in 2020 from RM3, 224 in 2019 due to the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, strict restrictions and health crisis, the Statistics Department said.
In its Statistics of Salaries and Wages, Malaysia, 2020 Report released yesterday, the department said the decline was the first since the series began in 2010, as the labour market experienced uneven momentum following the health crisis and economic consequences.
“This had caused job losses as well as cancellation or freezing of new hires and subsequently resulting in a decline to total employment.
“Besides, strict Covid-19 containment measures adopted in the country also had limited the business operation hours and led to the reduction in working hours, ” said chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
After two consecutive years recording more than RM3, 000, the mean monthly salaries and wages declined to RM2, 933 in 2020.
The sectors that were hardest hit were agriculture, which reported a 20% fall in wages, mining (-17.7%), construction (-10.4%), services (-9.4%) and manufacturing (-2.8%).
This data was compiled based on its salaries and wages survey that measured the monthly salaries and wages received by full-time equivalent employees among Malaysian citizens working in the private and public sectors based on their principal occupation.
Out of 15 million employed persons in 2020, the number of salaries and wages recipients was 9.4 million persons.
Uzir said the mean monthly salaries and wages for skilled employees was RM4,619 (2019: RM5, 072).
In this skilled occupation category, managers received the highest mean monthly salaries and wages at RM6, 479, followed by professionals (RM5, 301) and technicians and associate professionals (RM3, 313).
However, he said the mean value received by managers registered the largest contraction as compared to the previous year (2019: RM8, 855).
Meanwhile, the mean value of semi-skilled employees was RM2, 007 (2019: 2, 206), with the mean salaries and wages received by clerical support workers at RM2, 370.
Other semi-skilled occupations category registered a mean value lower than RM2, 000, namely, services and sales workers (RM1, 926), skilled agricultural, forestry, livestock and fishery workers (RM1, 547), craft and related trades workers (RM1, 891) and plant and machine operators and assemblers (RM1, 918).
“As for the elementary workers, they received mean monthly salaries and wages of RM1, 727 in 2020, ” he said.
Although the mean monthly salaries and wages for both urban and rural stratum declined in 2020, Uzir said the mean value in the urban segment posted a larger decrease of 9.3% to RM3, 089. In the rural areas, the decline was at a rate of 5.5% to RM2, 086.
By state, the highest mean monthly salaries and wages was received by employees in Putrajaya (RM4, 497), Kuala Lumpur (RM3, 823), Selangor (RM3, 480), Negri Sembilan (RM3, 013) and Labuan (RM2, 942).
“All states recorded a decline in mean monthly salaries and wages as compared to 2019, ” he said.
He also noted that the median monthly salaries and wages recorded a double-digit decrease of 15.6%, after an average growth of 5.6% for the past nine years.
“The median value was RM2, 062, which indicates that half of employees earned above this value and half earned below.
“In terms of the number of recipients in 2020, it increased albeit at a slower rate of 2.1% to 9.4 million persons as compared to an increase of 5% recorded in 2019 (9.2 million persons), ” he said.
SalariesFY2020-DOS-July21
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/07/15/average-monthly-wages-down-9-in-2020