De-commercialization of the Labor Migration Industry in Malaysia

Bibliographic Data

ID20251069
AuthorsC C Low (0000-0003-3159-9311, Universiti Sains Malaysia, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume9
Issue1
Pages27-65
Publication date2020-04-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSoutheast Asian studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2186-7275 • E-ISSN: 2423-8686
PublisherCenter for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.20495/seas.9.1_27
OpenAlexW3042671535
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited24

This paper focuses on irregularities as a result of the privatization of migrant worker recruitment and the unregulated activities of outsourcing companies, created by the institutionalization of the outsourcing system. Using Malaysia as its case study, this paper examines the strategies utilized by the government to de-commercialize the migration industry by phasing out intermediaries and turning to a government-to-government (G2G) approach. Eliminating the business aspect of the industry signifies a fundamental change in the government’s conceptualization, that is, labor migration should be framed as a long-term economic development issue rather than a national security threat. Enforced since 1995 and updated in 2010, the official policy to phase out agents has not eliminated employers’ and workers’ dependence on intermediaries, a historically rooted practice. The findings show that attempts to de-commercialize recruitment in Malaysia have led to monopolization of the industry and an increase in employers’ hiring costs and migrant workers’ application processing fees

Business · Commercialization · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Marketing

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