Bachelor of Science (Honours) Quantity Surveying alumna Chin Rou Yin was awarded silver under the Best Poster category at the 5th International Undergraduate Seminar on Built Environment and Technology (USBET), organised by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Perak Branch, in collaboration with Universitas ‘Aisyiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on 15 December 2021.

Chin received RM100 cash prize and a certificate for her award-winning research titled “A Study on Current Worker’s Productivity towards Project Performance in Malaysia Construction Industry”. The research aimed to enhance workers’ productivity in the Malaysian construction industry by first evaluating the current labour force in the industry, then identifying factors affecting workers’ productivity, and finally, establishing strategies to improve workers’ productivity based on the factors discovered.

Findings from the research revealed that the proportion of foreign workers was larger than local workers in the current labour force. Additionally, unskilled labour was found with the most, followed by semi-skilled labour and skilled labour. The most significant factors affecting workers’ productivity were (1) poor planning; (2) lack of labour skill and experience; (3) inadequate supervision; (4) poor communication; (5) poor economic condition. Besides, (1) effective supervision; (2) effective planning and scheduling; (3) adequate training for workers were the most significant strategies to improve workers’ productivity. The findings of this research are expected to improve labour management in construction projects.

Chin enthused, “Throughout my studies, I discovered that manpower or labour force plays a vital role in creating success in the construction industry, due to its labour-intensive nature. Seeing that the construction industry in Malaysia has been drastically impacted by the pandemic, it inspired me to play my part as a student to conduct research on improvement measures that can be taken to reconstruct and strengthen the industry. And among those, I have gained the most interest on labour performance and productivity.”

She also explained, “The research is essential for the government or relevant bodies to be aware and investigate the issue regarding construction labour productivity level in Malaysia to a greater extent. It is known that the government and Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) have carried out a development plan, named as Construction Industry Transformation Programme (CITP) to reinforce the construction industry. Construction productivity has been included as one of the thrusts of the plan, due to its significance to the overall performance of the industry. In this sense, the outcomes from this research seek to allow the government or professional bodies to explore the room for improvement in their development plan.”

In addition to that, the research also provides essential knowledge to the community regarding construction workers' productivity, and also methods for enhancement. Moreover, results and discussion from this research can be appraised by other academicians or researchers to conduct more extensive studies on this subject. This research also serves as a useful source of knowledge for academic or educational purposes, so that students gain a better understanding of the current issues faced by the construction industry.