Minister for Human Resources said that government has agreed to raise the minimum salary to RM1,500. Government will announce the details soon and will not have to wait until the end of this year.
Government needs to review minimum wage system every two years, and the last review was in 2020. So, government plans to raise the minimum wage to RM1,500 by the end of this year to help the low-income group. The increase in the minimum wage will address the situation where many people are not satisfied with their salaries and choose not to work.
Minister for Human Resources said that although the unemployment rate has dropped from 5.3 per cent to 4.2 per cent, government still needs to consider various aspects when raising the minimum wage.
Hotel and tourism industry has also not yet fully recovered, and will only gradually recover from April onwards, since government announced the opening of the country’s borders from 1st April. If government raise the minimum wage too quickly, some industry could have a wave of job cuts.
On the issue of the minimum wage increase, some netizens said that raising the minimum wage would only worsen inflation in the country, as employers would raise the prices of goods to pay for their employees. Others said that raising the minimum wage would make more people lose their jobs because employers could not afford to pay too much and would at least choose to lay off their staff.
