Analisis Penentu Perbezaan Upah Mengikut Kemahiran Di Malaysia
Authors: Wail Nik Azma , Ismail Rahmah , Yussof Ishak 
Published: January 2013

Di Malaysia, permintaan terhadap kemahiran buruh telah mengalami perubahan kesan daripada perubahan struktur ekonomi. Kesan selanjutnya, berlaku perubahan dalam nisbah upah antara kemahiran yang memihak kepada buruh yang lebih mahir. Terdapat banyak faktor yang menentukan tingkat upah pekerja seperti modal manusia khususnya pencapaian pendidikan, pengalaman dan latihan, faktor demografi dan sektor pekerjaan. Walau bagaimanapun, setelah mengambil kira semua perbezaan dalam pemboleh ubah yang berkaitan dengan produktiviti ini, perbezaan upah mengikut jenis pekerjaan atau kemahiran masih berlaku yang boleh disebabkan oleh perlakuan diskriminasi majikan. Kertas ini bertujuan mengenal pasti penentu perbezaan upah mengikut kemahiran di Malaysia. Analisis berdasarkan kepada data 2,216 ketua isi rumah yang dikutip pada tahun 2007/2008, hasil kajian ini menunjukkan pemboleh ubah modal manusia memainkan peranan utama dalam menentukan tingkat dan perbezaan upah mengikut kemahiran. Selanjutnya, hasil kajian juga menunjukkan 64.25 peratus daripada perbezaan upah pekerja mahir dengan pekerja separuh mahir dapat diterangkan oleh pemboleh ubah dalam model upah dan 35.75 peratus tidak dapat diterangkan. Bahagian yang tidak dapat diterangkan ini termasuklah amalan diskriminasi oleh majikan terhadap pekerja mereka. Bagi perbezaan upah antara pekerja mahir dengan tidak mahir pula, sebanyak 77.20 peratus dapat diterangkan dan 22.80 peratus tidak dapat diterangkan.

Kata kunci: Perbezaan upah; diskriminasi; pekerja mahir; pekerja separa mahir; pekerja tidak mahir

In Malaysia, demand for skills has been changing dramatically as a result of economic transformation. This subsequently resulted in changes in wage ratio between skills, which is more favourable towards skilled workers. However, it has been argued that wage rate does not merely depend on the demand for labour, but there are other factors that can influence workers’ wages. These include human capital variables like educational attainment, experience and training; demographic factors and job sectors. Even after taking into account the variations in these productivity-related variables, occupational wage differentials may still prevail as a result of employers' discriminatory practice. This paper attempts to measure wage differentials determinants by skills in Malaysia. The analysis is based on 2,216 heads of households data collected in 2007/2008. The result revealed that human capital variables play a major role in determining the level of wage and its differentials between skills. Moreover, the result demonstrates that 64.25 percent of skilled-semi skilled wage differentials are explained by the incorporated variables in the wage model, whereas 35.75 percent are unexplained. This unexplained portion includes the employers’ discriminatory practice against their workers. For the skilled-unskilled wage differentials 77.2 percent are explained and 22.8 percent are unexplained.

Key words: Wage differentials; discrimination; skilled workers; semi-skilled workers; unskilled workers