Population Outside the Labour Force, Its Causes and Potential: A Review from An Islamic Perspective

The population outside the labour force refers to individuals who are not classified as employed or unemployed. The Department of Statistics Malaysia have classified individuals who are not interested in jobs into six main reasons: (1) attending school or training programmes, (2) homeworking or family responsibilities, (3) pursuing further studies, (4) disability, (5) disinterest, and (6) retirement. Based on the data, there is no specific trend to the population outside the labour force in Malaysia. However, there are concerns about the lack of information on the population outside the labour force in Malaysia which may result in them being discounted from the labour force. On the flip side, technological advancement, working arrangement, and new “non-standard” employment are part of the factors that may have influenced this population to remain outside of the labour force. This paper highlights the importance of revisiting the meaning of employment, especially in the new way of working arrangements so that policymakers are able to assemble accurate labour market information in making strategic moves in accordance with the needs and demands of every sector. In addition, this paper also explores the Islamic view of the trend in the wider context, going beyond the terms of wage and profit.