Industrialization, female labour migration, and the changing pattern of Malay women' s labour force participation – an analysis of interrelationship and implications

Abstract

Since the 1960' s, in some. Asian countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hongkong, women workers constitute & significant proportion of the manufacturing sector' 5 labour force. A similar trend is occuring after 1970 in other Asian countries such as the Philippines and Malaysia. Many of these women workers are employed by multinational companies; in fact, the sudden expansion in In employment opportunities for women often coincides with the establishment of multinational owned electronics, garment, and other 'light ' consumer-oriented industries. This patttern of rapidly increasing women's participation in the manufacturing sector' s labour force is closely related to export-oriented labour- intensive industrialization. Generally these export-oriented industries are situated in urban-based locations frequently known as Free Trade Zones and Industrial Estates.The creation of job-opportunities as often caused a concomitant rapid rise in female migration streams starting from the rural hinterland and flowing into the factory gates.