Majority of Malaysian workforce can’t cope with GST, survey finds

KUALA LUMPUR — About 90 per cent of the Malaysian workforce can't cope with the additional expenses incurred following the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), according to a recent survey by career resources site Jobstreet.com.

In a statement today (June 30), Jobstreet said that 24 per cent of the respondents in its survey had already faced problems with their expenses even before the GST kicked in on April 1 this year.

The weight of the consumption tax also prompted significant changes in the daily work routines of the respondents, with more than half of them, 56 per cent, minimising going out for lunch with colleagues. About 47 per cent of them had started packing food from home.

“Some have also resorted to frugal activities, such as utilising their pantries, and carpooling to reduce their expenses,” Jobstreet said.

Only 19 per cent of the respondents said that GST had not affected their work routine.

The survey also found that 76 per cent of the respondents had said that they needed at least a 10 per cent salary hike in order to cope with GST.

About 63 per cent of the respondents had also wanted a petrol allowance to help mitigate added expenses.

“About 35 per cent of the respondents are considering changing jobs to better cope with GST, and 41 per cent of companies had received increasing demands in wages since GST,” Jobstreet said.

However, only 19 per cent of the companies had offered salary increments.

“Seeing that salaries are a top priority for most people, Jobstreet.com has introduced a Salary Matching feature that matches candidates to the salaries that they want,” Jobstreet's country manager Chook Yuh Yng said.

A total of 1,454 employees and 490 employers had participated in the survey, it said.

GST came into effect on April 1, as a replacement to the sales and service tax (SST).

But the broader tax base had led to complaints of higher goods prices and higher cost of living, which was already a concern among Malaysians before the new tax system came into effect. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER