From June 2027 the minimum wage rises from RM1,700 to RM2,000.1 Firms with sales under RM50 million are exempt for now. Six panels show what this, and a proposed RM2,500 floor, mean for Sarawak.
1
A typical Sarawak worker earns just RM300 above the new minimum
Median monthly wage, citizen employees in the formal sector, March 2026.
RM2,000 is 87% of a typical Sarawak wage. In Kuala Lumpur, it is 44%.2
A proposed RM2,500 floor for semi-skilled workers and graduates would sit above the typical formal-sector wage in Sarawak
Monthly pay floors today and from Budget 2027, and a typical Sarawak wage
The RM2,500 floor was announced as a minimum monthly salary for semi-skilled workers and graduates.3 On DOSM's yearly survey, which puts a typical Sarawak wage at RM2,707, it would sit just below.4 Its start date, who counts as semi-skilled, and whether exempt firms must pay it are not yet set.1 In Sabah, the employers' association says it could cover between about 317,000 and 1.4 million of the state's 1.9 million workers, depending on who counts as semi-skilled.5 No Sarawak estimate is published.
Many Sarawak staff earn just above RM2,000. Check how many of yours do, and which staff could count as semi-skilled.
2
When the minimum rises, it squeezes the pay just above it
An example, not data: one worker on the minimum and one supervisor, at a firm that must pay RM2,000. The shaded band is the gap between them.
In 2022, half of firms planned raises for staff above the minimum
About 5 in 10 firms surveyed by Bank Negara in 2022 planned raises, mostly RM100 to RM300, for staff earning under RM3,000, to keep gaps between grades.6
In Sarawak, more than half of employees earn under RM3,000. In Kuala Lumpur, fewer than half do.2 A Sarawak industry group warned on 5 October that employers may face pressure to raise pay above the minimum.7
Budget for some raises above the lowest paid, not just up to RM2,000.
3
In 2022, Sarawak agriculture averaged under RM2,000 a month per person working
Average monthly pay per person working, owners and family helpers included, 2022. Mining (RM12,721) not shown. The minimum then was RM1,500, and pay has risen since. Our calculation from DOSM figures.8
Oil palm estates pay by the task and were short of workers in 2022.9 That year, only two government-linked estate companies agreed to pay the RM1,500 minimum at once.10
4
Across Malaysia, large firms already paid more than smaller ones
Average monthly pay of employees, Malaysia, 2022. No Sarawak split published.12
In businesses counted by the national business census, 63% of people work in smaller firms
Each square is 1% of the 624,361 people, about 6,200 people.
Sarawak, 2022: 624,361 people working in 70,626 business establishments, owners included.13, 14 The same year, about 1.14 million people were in work in Sarawak, so this covers just over half of them.15 DOSM groups firms by sales or staff, not exactly the RM50 million line.
5
One national minimum, but much less room above it in Sabah and Sarawak
How far typical pay sits above RM2,000
Median monthly wage of citizen employees in the formal sector, March 2026, minus RM2,000.2
Sarawak used to have its own, lower minimum wage
Monthly minimum wage, selected years. The 2027 rate starts in June.1, 20, 21
The announced rate is one national RM2,000. Plan for that, not a lower Sarawak rate.1
6
On recent trends, RM2,000 would still be about 80% of a typical Sarawak wage in June 2027
Median monthly wage of citizen employees in the formal sector.2, 23 Our calculation. Lower line: Sarawak pay keeps rising 3.3% a year, as it did from March 2025 to March 2026. Upper line: 8.7% a year, Sarawak's rise in 2025 in DOSM's yearly survey.4 That puts RM2,000 at 78% to 84% of a typical Sarawak wage in June 2027. In Kuala Lumpur, rising 1.8% a year as it did over the past year, it would be about 43%. Monthly figures move around: Sarawak was RM2,400 in January 2026.
When the minimum rose to RM1,700, the share of Malaysian workers paid below it halved within months
Share of Malaysia's citizen formal employees paid under RM1,700
RM1,700 started in February 2025 for employers with five or more workers, and in August 2025 for all employers.24 Same month a year apart: 22.6% in June 2024, 10.4% in June 2025.25 Bars from DOSM's formal-sector wage releases.2, 25, 26 This time only firms with sales above RM50 million must pay, so fewer workers are likely to move up at first.
After the 2022 rise, Sarawak restaurant and hotel prices rose faster; after the 2025 rise, they did not
Change in Sarawak restaurant and hotel prices over 12 months
Sarawak consumer price index, restaurant and accommodation services; 12 months before and after each rise, our calculation.27 Food costs were also rising in 2022. In the year after the last two rises, these prices rose 7% and 2%. We cannot say how much came from wages. They were already up 4.5% in the year to August 2026.27
If your sales are above RM50 million, have new pay scales ready before June 2027. Last time, the share paid below RM1,700 halved within months of the start.
What if we use DOSM's yearly household survey, which also counts civil servants and workers outside the formal sector?
Sarawak's typical wage was RM2,707 in 2025, so RM2,000 is 74% of it. In Kuala Lumpur it is 51%.4
Holds for the gap with Kuala Lumpur. The share is lower on this measure.
How fast would Sarawak pay need to rise to take RM2,000 under 80%?
About 7% a year. Sarawak's median rose 8.7% in 2025 in the yearly survey, so this is possible.4
Partly holds: 80% is not certain, but the share stays far above Kuala Lumpur's.
Will jobs be lost?
Bank Negara found fewer than 15% of employees were directly affected by the 2022 rise; employment kept recovering, but the economy was reopening then, so this does not show the rise cost no jobs.6 A 2025 study found one national rate hurt young workers' jobs more.22 One study of Sarawak's services sector found earlier rises raised pay with few job losses.20 Nothing yet covers RM2,000.
Mixed evidence
How many Sarawak workers are in firms that must pay RM2,000?
No published figure splits Sarawak firms at RM50 million in sales.
Not known
RM2,000 bites harder in Sarawak than in Kuala Lumpur, because Sarawak pay sits closer to it. On recent trends, that will still be true in June 2027. Firms with sales above RM50 million, such as big plantation groups, must pay from June 2027. A proposed RM2,500 floor for semi-skilled workers and graduates, if applied widely, would reach further into Sarawak payrolls than RM2,000. Employers have about eight months to prepare.
Not yet known: how long the exemption lasts, when smaller firms must follow, who counts as semi-skilled for the RM2,500 floor, and how pay by the task will be checked.1, 11, 28
This piece explains published evidence. It is not financial, legal or investment advice.