Center for Market Education Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Carmelo Ferlito (pic) says the reliance on cheap labour is not the main problem. WHILE the wage-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of many advanced economies has been declining over the years, Malaysia is still playing catch-up despite seeing steady growth since 2005. According to a 2019 paper by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), globally, the share of national income going to workers is falling, from 53.7% in 2004 to 51.4% in 2017. Comparatively, the contribution of compensation of employees to Malaysia’s GDP increased to 35.9% in 2019 against 35.8% in 2018, according to the Statistics Department. According to the Asian Development Bank Institute, the steady increase can be attributed to the growing importance of more traditional service sub-sectors and small and medium enterprises in the economy.