PETALING JAYA: The approval of foreign workers under the quota plan so far is expected to meet the demand for foreign workers, including in critical sectors, said Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar (pic).
He said 995,396 foreign workers under the employment quota have been approved including for manufacturing, construction, plantation, agriculture and services.
Thus, he said, the government decided to postpone the application and approval of the foreign worker quota, including through the Foreign Worker Employment Relaxation Plan (FWERP), starting yesterday until a date to be announced later.
“This is to ensure that employers who have been granted quota approval will start making plans for the immediate entry of the required foreign workers,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He urged employers to speed up hiring workers during this period.
“The number of foreign workers admitted is still low compared to the numbers approved by the Human Resources Ministry,” he added.
In January, the government announced the Relaxation of Employment of Foreign Workers Plan in five critical sectors – from Jan 17 to March 31 to address the urgent workforce shortage issue.
The relaxed preconditions include bypassing a requirement for employers to prioritise local workers – by advertising available vacancies on the ministry’s dedicated portal, employers can hire foreign workers from 15 source countries without going through employment and quota eligibility preconditions.
Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers Penang (FMM Penang) chairman Datuk Lee Teong Li said the decision by the government was not favourable.
“Normally, once applications for foreign workers are approved, we are given up to a year to bring them in.
“However, many companies would prefer to bring them in in batches due to uncertainty after the pandemic.
“Such a sudden decision to put a halt to the approvals would mean those in need of foreign workers will be affected,” he said.
Lee said the federation hopes that companies would at least be given a timeframe on the postponement for them to plan ahead.
“Sectors such as semiconductor manufacturers have experienced a slowdown since the end of last year and hiring has stopped. It is only on an as-needed basis now.
“Other sectors that may still need workers are the medical and food industries.
“A sudden halt to hiring of foreign workers will disrupt growth of companies, especially those who are just recovering after the pandemic,” he said.
