Voluntary labour turnover in west Malaysia: a comparison of the experiences of the Chinese, Indians and Malays

Abstract

As a multiracial country, Malaysia's most crucial problem toward national unity is the glaring economic imbalance and racial tension among the races. Several policies have been carried out to eliminate the economic and racial disparities that exist. Amongst them is by expanding the manufacturing sector employing all ethnic groups. However, with the rapid expansion in this sector, a relatively high rate of voluntary labour turnover among blue-collar workers has developed with potentially serious consequences for the process of expansion. Even though the economic and racial disparities in Peninsular Malaysia are mul ti -dimensional, the present study focusses exclusively upon the ever-increasing rate of voluntary labour turnover amongst blue-collar workers. Unlike previous studies on labour turnover, the focus of this study is the comparison of labour turnover issues amongst different races in Peninsular Malaysia. This coverage is important because of the scarcity of comparative studies of labour turnover in the country. The three major races are chosen for this study; they are the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians. The purposes of this study are threefold: To discover the general characteristics of blue-collar voluntary labour turnover in Peninsular Malaysia; To ascertain correlate and determinant factors which influence blue-collar workers' decisions to discover factors and voluntarily leave the underlying in each of the their employment; and finally, reasons associated with these three cases to compare the experiences of the different races. The findings of this study highlight similarities and di fferences between the Malays, Chinese and Indians' decisions to voluntarily leave their job. The organisational and external factors results of this study on are consistent with the findings of research in other Third world countries. However, the present findings differ in terms of personal factors. It is concluded that the "racial background" and "cui ture" of the three races are amongst the important elements in understanding the factors influencing their decisions to voluntarily change employment in Peninsular Malaysia.