DYSON is dialling back its hairdryer-related operations in Malaysia, according to sources familiar with the matter who declined to be identified discussing matters that are private, as the consumer goods company seeks to streamline its business in the region.
Impacted employees will be redeployed to other parts of the facility, which is located in the southern state of Johor just across the border from Singapore, the sources said.
Dyson is also in very early-stage discussions regarding a broader review of its presence in the South-east Asian nation, the sources said. A full exit, should it ever come to that, would take some time and a ramp down would also hinge on Dyson’s ability to move manufacturing elsewhere, they added.
No final decisions have been made and the government is in talks with the company about any further moves, the sources said.
Dyson said that it “continues to invest in Malaysia, manufacturing many millions of Dyson machines” there every year. The company is redeploying 47 employees from its advanced manufacturing facility to the global development campus in Johor, where 1,400 people work, it said.
“These labs and facilities remain central to the development and testing of Dyson’s future technologies,” Dyson said. Dyson declined to issue a comment about a possible broader review of its operations in Malaysia.
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Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry did not respond to a request for comment.
Malaysia is home to Dyson’s second-largest global hub, bolstered by research, design and development teams in the Philippines and Singapore, and more than half of its sales are now in the Asia-Pacific region.
It opened its global headquarters in Singapore in 2022, moving them from the UK, and announced plans to invest S$1.5 billion in the wealthy city-state over the following four years.
The closely held company, best known for its premium-priced vacuum cleaners and stylised hair products, is considering paring operations in Malaysia for a number of reasons, including a wish to make its business more efficient. The company’s relationship with the government has also soured over a labour dispute, three of the sources said.
Dyson’s labour issues in Malaysia began in 2019 after human rights activist Andy Hall contacted the company and alleged that one of its biggest local suppliers, ATA IMS, was mistreating migrant employees.
While Dyson told Hall on multiple occasions it had investigated the matter and found no wrongdoing, the activist alerted government agencies in the UK, Malaysia and the US. The US Customs and Border Protection opened an investigation into ATA in 2021.
In November of that year, Dyson began winding down its relationship with ATA, saying an audit had identified issues at the supplier that had not been addressed quickly enough. ATA denied all allegations of wrongdoing. ATA announced in November 2021 and again in December 2022 that Dyson would cut ties with three of its subsidiaries.
Dyson has strongly denied allegations that it was involved in or had knowledge of any worker mistreatment.
The 50,000-square metre Malaysian facility in the town of Senai first opened in 2000 as a few small R&D labs. It has since grown to accommodate workers spanning engineering roles to creative, information technology, finance and human resources ones, according to the company’s website.
Dyson also stirred controversy recently in Singapore after it laid off an undisclosed number of workers on short notice in October, earning a rebuke from the labour union representing the employees.
In July, the company also cut some 1,000 jobs in the UK, almost a third of its workforce in the country. Dyson chief executive officier Hanno Kirner said at the time that the job losses were a result of the company reviewing its global structures and preparing for the future. BLOOMBERG
