KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 152,158 foreign workers are expected to arrive in the country, says Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.
He said this is to meet the demand of local industries that had trouble filling positions due to the lack of local human resources.
Sivakumar added that there are also already over 1.83 million foreign workers in the country on temporary employment visit passes (PLKS).
"The Recalibration Programme has also registered 747,167 previously undocumented migrants, who were issued new work permits," he added during Minister's Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Oct 31).
Datuk Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang) had asked about the number of foreign workers in Malaysia, as well as any measures by the government to reduce reliance on foreign workers and to reskill the local workforce.
To this, Sivakumar said the government would continue its efforts to incentivise local industries to adopt digitalisation, mechanisation and automation in their operations.
"(This) will increase skilled worker demand which will in turn incentivise more local workers to seek upskilling," he said.
He added that the ministry was also exploring the possibility of incentives for local businesses to hire locals.
On March 19, Sivakumar announced that the quota application and approval for foreign workers, including through the Foreign Worker Employment Relaxation Plan, had been postponed to an undetermined date.
