Immigration Patterns of Skilled Workers in Malaysia: a Sectoral Analysis

Rapid economic development in Malaysia has resulted in fundamental changes in the immigration patterns of skilled workers. This paper studies the changes that have occurred in the immigration patterns of skilled workers in Malaysia during 1998-2004. Skilled immigration flows to Malaysia from developed and developing countries are much higher in the services sector compared to the rest of the sectors. The manufacturing sector is the top option for the skilled workers from least developed countries. This analysis is supported by the notion that a lack of experts in developing countries causes immigration patterns of skilled workers to flow towards the developing countries. This process also leads to the transfer of technology and know-how from the more advanced countries to less developed countries