KUALA LUMPUR: Theme park operators have been given the greenlight to hire an additional 2,000 foreign workers, says Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution.
"We had weighed the request from the Tourism Ministry to open up the entry of foreign workers for theme parks.
"There is a drastic need for 2,000 foreign workers and we have agreed to the ministry's request," the Home Minister told reporters at a press conference after a joint meeting with Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar on Wednesday (Oct 18).
He said that there are currently 78 theme parks operating nationwide, employing a workforce of about 13,000 workers.
"The additional 2,000 workers are needed to prepare for Visit Malaysia Year in 2026," Saifuddin added.
Last month, Sivakumar announced that the government had agreed to reopen the intake of foreign workers for barbershops, goldsmiths and textile stores.
Meanwhile, Saifuddin said that employers in the respective sectors have until Dec 31 this year to "recalibrate" their foreign workers.
"The recalibration exercise ends on Dec 31 and employers still have two months. After which, the next three months till March will be for the verification process," he said.
He said this was the decision after taking into account the request for foreign workers during the relaxation period between January and March this year and the Labour Recalibration Programme (RTK 2.0).
He added that the initial target was 518,000 work permits for foreign workers in the first quarter of this year.
"As of Oct 9, we succeeded in providing work permits to 667,418 foreign workers," he said.
Under RTK 1.0, which ran from November 2020 to Dec 31 last year, a total of 418,649 undocumented migrants were registered, involving 30,137 employers.
