ANÁLISIS FÍSICO, BROMATOLÓGICO Y MICROBIOLÓGICO DEL

The preference of the domestic labour force for government sector employment is clearly demonstrated in Table 1.6. More than two-thirds of the domestic workforce are in government sector employment, the proportion hardly changing during the 1981-91 decade. The high proportion of locals in the public sector is anomalous, compared to the situation in neighbouring countries. For example, in Malaysia the public sector accounted for 13.2 per cent of all employment in 1990; in Singapore, only 7.8 per cent^^, while in Brunei in 1995 was 45.7 per cent^*. The number of locals in the private sector grew only slowly (2.4 per cent) in the 1980s, while that of foreign workers grew much faster (6.0 per cent), creating an overall situation in which the proportion of locals employed in the private sector remains small while that of foreigners remains high. Though the proportion of local workers increase significantly in 1995 (45.7 per cent - see footnote 27), it is still relatively small compared to its ASEAN counterparts.

The main reasons for the local workers (see footnote 3) to prefer working in the public sector are better pay, provision of other financial and non-financial benefits and working conditions, and better job security. Many of them regard the public sector as a lifetime career. In these circumstances it is inevitable that jobs in the private sector are increasingly filled by foreign workers. Hence, the working population of Brunei is segmented according to types of occupation and economic sectors in the public and private sectors. As will be seen in Chapter Four, it is also segmented according to sex, ethnicity and residential status.

A profile of the distribution of employment by economic sectors in Table 1.7 shows that it is mainly the tertiary sector industries that have experienced an increasing share of employment. Between 1971 and 1991, the wholesale, and retail sector and the finance, banking and insurance sector shares rose by around four percentage points; and community and personal

^ Economic Report 1990/91, Malaysia, 1990; Economic Survey of Singapore, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore, 1992, cited in Tan and Hashim, ibid.

services by 11.3 percentage points. The remaining sectors, generally experienced a decline in their share of employment.

Table 1.6: Working population aged 15 and over by sector and residential status, 1981-91

Residential Status Public sector 1981 1991 Private sector 1981 1991 Total 1981 1991 All persons

Brunei Citizens & permanent residents Temporary residents & others

All persons

Brunei Citizens & permanent residents Temporary residents & others

All persons

Brunei Citizens & permanent residents Temporary residents & others

36402 57748 15645 19810 20757 37938 Number 31726 48998 28050 42129 3676 6869 Distribution (%) 46.6 45.9 64.2 68.0 15.0 15.3 Annual change (%) 1981-91 4.3 4.1 6.3 68128 106746 43695 61939 24433 44807 53.4 35.8 85.0 54.1 32.0 84.7 4.6 2.4 6.0 100 100 100 100 100 100 4.1 3.5 6.1 Source: EPU., (1993), Report on the 1991 Population Census: 77.

iistribution of working populatior

Economic Sectors 1971 1981 1991 Annual Growth Rate

1971-81 1981-91 Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 11.9 5.0 2.0 -3.2 -46

Mining & Quarrying 7.3 5.7 5.0 2.9 3.3

Manufacturing 4.4 4.1 3.8 4.7 3.9

Electricity, Water & Gas 2.7 2.9 2.1 6.1 1.2

Construction 20.2 18.6 13.3 4.6 1.7

Wholesale, Retail & Restaurant 10.5 10.8 14.4 5.8 7.6 Transport, Storage & Communication 5.3 6.6 5.1 7.9 1.7

Finance, Banking & Insurance 1.6 3.0 5.4 12.0 11.2

Community & Personal Services 37.5 43.0 48.8 7.2 5.9

Unknown 0.2 0.4 0.1 - - Total (%) (niunber) 100.0 40012 100.0 68,128 100.0 106746 5.4 4.6

Sources: Calculated from EPU., Censuses o f Population (1971: 226, 1981: 212 and 1991: 320). Tan and Hashim (1995: 56).

Manufacturing industry, promoted under the diversification policy, suffered a decline both in its employment share (fi-om 4.4 to 3.8 per cent in 1971 and 1991 respectively), and in its decade growth rates fi-om 4.7 (1971-81) to 3.9 per cent (1981-91). This fall in employment does not necessarily imply a negative output performance of the manufacturing sector, as improved technology increases productivity. However, in the Brunei non-oil industrial context, the few industries established are of small and medium scale, and hence unlikely to employ sophisticated technology. In short, they are mainly labour-intensive light industries.

In summary, Brunei’s economy is still dominated by the oil sector. Despite four recent development plans which emphasised economic diversification through promotion of the non­ oil sector, achievements have been minimal. Other traditional economic sectors, notably agriculture, also lagged behind. One of the factors which undermines progress towards diversification appears to be a lack of a suitable domestic labour force, which is further exacerbated by the preference of locals for white collar occupations in the public sector, and employers’ preference for foreign labour (see Chapter 6 and 7). In effect, employment is dichotomised: the locals mainly in the government sector while foreign workers concentrate mainly in the private sector. Further segmentation tendencies accentuate the local labour shortage, manifested sectorally and occupationally, with the result that certain sectors and occupations are sustained by foreign labour.

It is the incompatibility between the structure of demand and local labour supply that constrains diversification, allied to a relatively undeveloped infi-astructure. Brunei does not have comparative advantage to attract foreign investments. With poor participation of foreign investors in Brunei, the government remains the main stimulant to accelerate economic growth and its capital expenditure is currently the major source of development fiinding. However, government expenditure in the Sixth and Seventh Plans is still largely geared to infi-astructure development, such as roads, telecommunications and social amenities. Social services absorb about 40 per cent of total government expenditure, transport and communications 23 per cent, defence 4 per cent, public building 6 per cent, public utilities 20 per cent and miscellaneous 1

per cent, leaving only 6 per cent allocated to industry and commerce to diversify the economic base (E.P.U. Seventh National Development Plan, 1996-2000).

As far as the structure of employment is concerned, Brunei relies heavily on foreign labour at both ends of the skill spectrum and particularly in the private sector. Hence, labour migration and development in Brunei are largely interdependent. This is typical not only of Brunei but also of several countries in the region have long used foreign labour in their economic development. But the foreign labour sector is disproportionately large in Brunei in comparison with other countries in the region (Chapter Two). This, combined with the simultaneously rising unemployment (see Chapter Four), particularly among young Bruneians, should be a stimulant to the Brunei government to review the socio-economic viability of its development strategy, especially in view of its policy to reduce dependence on foreign labour, increase Bruneianisation and promote the non-oil sector.