Construction workforce requirement in Iskandar Malaysia

Abstract

Workforce is an important asset in any developing countries. The same situation applies to Malaysia particularly in the construction sector. Increased construction activities due to the simultaneous launching of the country’s five economic regions has led to an increasing demand for construction workforce. This study aims to investigate the capability of the nation in providing adequate construction skilled workers to fulfill the demands placed upon the construction industry. The scope of this study is Iskandar Malaysia development region. The survey and interview techniques were adopted for data collection. In obtaining information on the demand and supply of workforce, interviews were carried out with the stakeholders of Iskandar Malaysia, contractors and administrators of the Public Training Institution (PTI). The survey seeks to identify the factors contributing to the gaps between the demand and supply of construction workforce. Respondents for the survey include trainees on construction related courses at the various Public Training Institution. Analysis of the data collected indicated that the supply of construction workforce in the state is 270 people per year. The analysis also demonstrated that the amount of workforce needed in completing 1m² of work is 0.0743 people, including both skilled and unskilled workforce. Hence, the amount of workforce needed in completing 3,045,107.730 m² of work for Nusajaya area in Iskandar Malaysia development is 226,252 people. Based on the current ratio between trained trade workers and general workers, the number of trained trade workers needed to complete the development of Nusajaya area in Iskandar Malaysia is 203, 627 people. This shows that there is a huge gap between the demand and supply of workforce in Johor. The enrolment of trainees in the construction related courses are inconsistent and has declined from year to year. The contributing factors to the demand and supply gap include the negative perceptions on the career prospect in construction, lack of information on construction related courses and lack of support from the industry in providing training facilities.