KUCHING, July 26 2026: Social activist Voon Shiak Ni has expressed concerns at the alarming numbers of job retrenchments and layoffs in the first half of year of 2026, raising important questions about conditions on the ground and need urgent attention.
Caption: Social activist Voon Shiak Ni says the hardest hit areas are Kuala Lumpur and Selangor
Without naming sources, she said an estimate of over 42,000 workers lost their jobs nationwide between January and mid-June, climbing to 52,607 cases by mid-July 2026,
She expressed fear that if the issue is not addressed urgently , the numbers may continue to soar and may reach 100,000 a year and this is alarming .
“Workers aged 25 to 39 and highly-skilled professionals bore a significant portion of the retrenchment impact with the hardest - hit areas in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor,” she said in a statement.
She believed there is a visible economic tension between private companies claiming a lack of government support.
She added the actual structural policies implemented by the Madani administration and many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) feel that current government assistance is not enough to help them offset rising operational costs with the price hike in almost everything .
Voon said private companies feel unsupported and with the announcement of minimum wage to RM1700, many companies are adversely affected by the added financial burden especially those with many workers .
“It has to be noted that the minimum wage of RM1700 which comes with EPF, SOSCO and workers insurance contribution will come up to nearly RM2000 per worker and employer has to do the necessary increment for workers according to the number of years of their service .
“Though it is a good measure to state a minimum wage for employees but most of the times , the additional financial burden put on private companies are not supported by government initiatives to ensure that the private companies can afford the added costs and will not lead to subsequent job layoffs,” she said.
Voon recalled that the Madani government raised the minimum wage to RM1,700 per month, implemented progressively starting February 1, 2025 (with full enforcement for small businesses taking effect on August 1, 2025).
She said moving into mid-2026, Malaysia has observed a notable trend in retrenchments.
“Of course , the minimum wage issue is not the only cause for retrenchments ,” she said, adding that many private entities, through bodies like the SME Association of Malaysia and the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), argue that staffing and retention issues stem from several unresolved pressures like escalating operational costs where global supply chain disruptions, energy price fluctuations, and local inflation have severely squeezed profit margins.
Voon said businesses find it difficult to self-fund competitive salary hikes to retain employees .
“In view of the worrying numbers of retrenchment happening now , the government should examine the root cause behind these job layoffs ,” she said.
She suggested that the federal government conduct necessary survey on businesses struggling with higher operating costs, weaker consumer demand, competitive and changing market conditions before making hasty decisions on new policy affecting the business operators on the ground .
She also suggested that the government and policymakers should closely engage with employers, industry groups, and workers to understand the challenges businesses face.
“Sustaining economic growth should go hand in hand with protecting employment opportunities, particularly for young Malaysians entering the workforce.
“Addressing the root cause of retrenchments and supporting business competitiveness should remain a national priority,” she suggested.
