Malaysian as the Component of Labour Force for Construction Industry in Malaysia

The construction sector plays a significant role in the economy in order to achieve the inspiration to be a developed nation in 2020. In the effort to increase the efficiency of the sector, Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) had pledged to continue investing in human capital development in the construction industry as one of its initiatives under Productivity Thrust in Construction Industry Transformation Programme (CITP). However, currently, the construction industry of Malaysia is depressed by the low-wage and low productivity trap due to substantial reliance on low-skilled foreign workers. The number of local workers are not only low but are decreasing drastically due to out-migration towards better job opportunities in other sectors. Therefore, this research aims to establish a conceptual framework for Malaysians as the component of the labour force in the construction industry in Malaysia through identifying the landscape of participation of local labour, investigating factors hindering participation of local labour and propose initiatives to increase the numbers of participation of local labour. This paper presents a review of literature from journals, conference proceedings, and books. Based on the review, a framework consisting of four (4) components (i.e., Government Agenda, Local Labour in Malaysian Construction Industry, strategies to improve participation, and expected key outcomes of CITP for Productivity) is proposed. These findings will assist the extended investigation in the identification of ways to improve the participation of local labour for the Construction Industry in Malaysia.