_PG-3_20261006190917_theedgemalaysia.jpg&w=1920&q=75)
KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 6): Top Glove Corporation Bhd (KL:TOPGLOV) said labour shortage remains a primary constraint in scaling up production as it seeks to capture rising global demand following its best year since 2021.
The group is targeting to raise annual running capacity by 8% to 78 billion pieces in the financial year ending Aug 31, 2027 (FY2027), from 72 billion in FY2026, said Top Glove corporate director Lim Cheong Guan.
"Our manpower availability remains a key constraint as we seek to increase production. We will focus on optimising existing facilities, improving productivity, and enhancing automation," Cheong Guan said after the group's results briefing.
Against this backdrop, Top Glove joint managing director Ng Yong Lin said the group will continue to hire local workers, contract workers, and TVET candidates while relocating manpower between factories to optimise output.
"We will continue to take in local workers, contract workers, TVET candidates, staff workers, and also continue to explore and implement further automation that we can do, those low-hanging fruits. And also optimising between the different factories that we have," Ng added.
On Tuesday, Top Glove posted a 28% year-on-year rise in FY2026 sales volume, pushing net profit to its highest in five years.
While the industry sees demand rising faster than production growth, the company also has to navigate an estimated 30% increase in natural gas tariffs, alongside a potential minimum wage hike as hinted by the government.
Approximately 80% of its workforce falls within the category affected by potential minimum wage adjustments.
Ng noted that an increase in the minimum wage from RM1,700 to RM1,900 would raise the group's cost per carton by around 1%. A further increase to RM2,000 would place additional cost pressure on the world's largest glove manufacturer.
"Around 80% of our workers" fall within the category affected by potential minimum wage adjustments, Ng said. "That will impact our cost per carton around 1% if the new minimum wages are implemented", from RM1,700 to RM1,900, he said.
On the potential wage impact, Top Glove executive chairman Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai emphasised that while salaries can increase, it must be accompanied by higher productivity to maintain global market competitiveness.
"Salaries can increase, but productivity must also increase. If salary costs increase while productivity falls or stays flat, we cannot compete," Wee Chai said.