Making Women’s Voices Heard: Technological Change and Women’s Employment in Malaysia

Abstract

The paper examines the 1994-96 UNU/INTECH policy research project on technological change and women’s employment in Asia. One of the main objectives of the project was to provide a voice for non-government organizations (NGOs) representing women workers so that they could dialogue with policy-makers in the region. It looks at the mode of research and interaction between the state and NGOs and summarizes the key findings of the work undertaken by the NGOs and trade unions. The paper then focuses on the Malaysian experience in terms of the impact of new technology on women’s work and employment in the telecommunications and electronics industry.

The NGO findings reveal that the shift to more knowledge intensive production has not uniformly impacted women. New jobs have been created, but women increasingly have to contend with vulnerable forms of employment. The fears of women workers are real; these range between technological redundancy, the casualization of labor, as well as the health and safety hazards associated with new technology. In countries where they once had the protection of the socialist state system, the opening up of the market to foreign capital has meant a loss of these rights.

The Malaysian case is interesting as the country is perhaps one of the best examples of a globalized, export-oriented economy which is increasingly involved in the use of and work with new technologies. This paper, through several case studies, discusses how cutting-edge technology has still to advance the lot of the majority of women workers in the country.