Women Labour Force in Malaysia: Why is There an Increased?

Abstract

There have been some changes in the distribution of women’s employment in Malaysia. Womenaccount for about 40.0 percent of all employed workers. They have found their labour in highdemand at a time when it is becoming increasingly acceptable for them to participate in paidemployment. They are involved in various types of job in different type of industries. Thenumber of women in employment in certain industries has risen in 2000. Why is the number ofwomen in the labour force increased? This question is the central concerned of this paper. Thispaper tries to compare the detailed occupational structure of the Malaysian women labour force.A sampled survey was used to get primary data. The data used in this research was taken froma bigger research that had been carried out. In-depth interview was used to obtain the requireddata and information. The increasing importance of women in the labour force has resulted ina number of studies by demographers, sociologists, and economists, of the pattern of currenttrends in women’s labour force participation in Malaysia. There are four factors influencingchanges in employment structure; first the changing structure of the economy, second the levelof formal education received, third the attitude of the society and the last one the division ofdomestic labour. This paper has looked at the detailed occupational structure of the Malaysialabour force. It has examined policy changes instituted by the government, that is, from importsubstitution industrialisation to an adoption of export promotion strategy based upon foreigndirect investment for continued growth rates.