Public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia and its implication on the future workforce

Despite contributing almost RM 20 billion (USD 4.9 billion) in exports earnings annually, the public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia remains unknown. Therefore, this study attempted to assess public perceptions about the industry in Malaysia among the public, including teenagers...

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Main Authors: Ratnasingam, Jegatheswaran, Ab Latib, Hazirah, Liat, Lim Choon, Mariapan, Manohar, Jegatheswaran, Natkuncaran, Othman, Kamaruzaman, Amir, Mohd Afthar
Format: Article
Published: 2022
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/102952/
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author Ratnasingam, Jegatheswaran
Ab Latib, Hazirah
Liat, Lim Choon
Mariapan, Manohar
Jegatheswaran, Natkuncaran
Othman, Kamaruzaman
Amir, Mohd Afthar
author_facet Ratnasingam, Jegatheswaran
Ab Latib, Hazirah
Liat, Lim Choon
Mariapan, Manohar
Jegatheswaran, Natkuncaran
Othman, Kamaruzaman
Amir, Mohd Afthar
author_sort Ratnasingam, Jegatheswaran
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Despite contributing almost RM 20 billion (USD 4.9 billion) in exports earnings annually, the public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia remains unknown. Therefore, this study attempted to assess public perceptions about the industry in Malaysia among the public, including teenagers, based on 3,010 reliably answered questionnaire-surveys. Generally, the public perceived the wood products industry to be a low-wage economy, labor-intensive, predominated by foreign contract workers, and unsustainable in the long-term. In essence, the public appear to have stronger negative images of the industry compared to the positive images. The main drivers for such negative perceptions, identified through the factor analysis, were the prevailing business environment in the industry and its workforce characteristics. Consequently, teenagers and school-leavers tend to be less interested in pursuing a career in the industry, let alone pursuing further studies in the wood-related fields. The main reasons cited for this were the limited career growth opportunity due to the predomination of family-controlled small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the industry and the discouragements from family members and friends. The provision of reliable, timely, and transparent information is important to boost the public’s awareness and build positive beliefs and perception of the wood industry.
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spelling upm-1029522024-06-30T06:06:59Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/102952/ Public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia and its implication on the future workforce Ratnasingam, Jegatheswaran Ab Latib, Hazirah Liat, Lim Choon Mariapan, Manohar Jegatheswaran, Natkuncaran Othman, Kamaruzaman Amir, Mohd Afthar Despite contributing almost RM 20 billion (USD 4.9 billion) in exports earnings annually, the public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia remains unknown. Therefore, this study attempted to assess public perceptions about the industry in Malaysia among the public, including teenagers, based on 3,010 reliably answered questionnaire-surveys. Generally, the public perceived the wood products industry to be a low-wage economy, labor-intensive, predominated by foreign contract workers, and unsustainable in the long-term. In essence, the public appear to have stronger negative images of the industry compared to the positive images. The main drivers for such negative perceptions, identified through the factor analysis, were the prevailing business environment in the industry and its workforce characteristics. Consequently, teenagers and school-leavers tend to be less interested in pursuing a career in the industry, let alone pursuing further studies in the wood-related fields. The main reasons cited for this were the limited career growth opportunity due to the predomination of family-controlled small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the industry and the discouragements from family members and friends. The provision of reliable, timely, and transparent information is important to boost the public’s awareness and build positive beliefs and perception of the wood industry. 2022 Article PeerReviewed Ratnasingam, Jegatheswaran and Ab Latib, Hazirah and Liat, Lim Choon and Mariapan, Manohar and Jegatheswaran, Natkuncaran and Othman, Kamaruzaman and Amir, Mohd Afthar (2022) Public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia and its implication on the future workforce. BioResources, 17 (2). art. no. College of Natural Resources. pp. 2097-2115. ISSN 1930-2126 https://bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu/resources/public-perception-of-the-wood-products-industry-in-malaysia-and-its-implication-on-the-future-workforce/ 10.15376/biores.17.2.2097-2115
spellingShingle Ratnasingam, Jegatheswaran
Ab Latib, Hazirah
Liat, Lim Choon
Mariapan, Manohar
Jegatheswaran, Natkuncaran
Othman, Kamaruzaman
Amir, Mohd Afthar
Public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia and its implication on the future workforce
title Public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia and its implication on the future workforce
title_full Public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia and its implication on the future workforce
title_fullStr Public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia and its implication on the future workforce
title_full_unstemmed Public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia and its implication on the future workforce
title_short Public perception of the wood products industry in Malaysia and its implication on the future workforce
title_sort public perception of the wood products industry in malaysia and its implication on the future workforce
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/102952/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/102952/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/102952/