Johor banks on new economic zones to stem brain drain

The hope is that higher starting salaries will persuade workers against finding jobs in Singapore

- Harith Mustaffa

JOHOR BAHRU - After Ms Nur Amira Jaaffar graduated in February with a degree in business administration, she took on her first job as an administrative clerk in Johor at a monthly pay of RM1,500 (S$455).

Dissatisfied with her salary, the 24-year-old Malaysian from Senai, Johor, decided to switch to a housekeeping job at a hotel in Singapore earlier in October. She now earns $2,000 a month, more than four times her previous salary.

According to the Mara Technological University graduate, who now rents a room in Yishun, while there are jobs in Johor that match her educational qualifications, the starting pay is just too low.

"It only makes more sense to work in Singapore," she told The Straits Times.

She added that she was unwilling to commute across the border daily. It would be too exhausting for her, as Senai is about 26km from the checkpoint, even without taking into consideration the traffic situation.

Higher wages in Malaysia's southernmost state have been flagged by Johor officials as a key tool for it to attract and retain talent, and tackle the brain drain into neighbouring Singapore. This issue has become more prominent as plans for the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JSSEZ) and Johor's Special Financial Zone (SFZ) in Forest City get under way.

Johor's state government had said it hopes that the setting up of the JSSEZ and the SFZ will help address the manpower situation.

A deal for the JSSEZ - planned to be an integrated zone for business and investment to ease the movement of people and goods across the border is expected to be signed between Malaysia and Singapore by the end of 2024.