200,000 foreign workers quota in five sectors
SHAH ALAM - The Human Resources Ministry has given the green light for a foreign worker quota of 200,000 for five major sectors in the country.
Its minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan said the five sectors were agriculture, plantation, manufacturing, development and services.
He added that the quota was approved within 60 days after the reopening of the country's borders on April 1.
“Recruitment of foreign workers started after April 1, this year right after we opened the borders. Foreign workers could not enter the country because of the Movement Control Order (MCO),” he said when contacted by Sinar Ahad.
Commenting further, he said, as of last Wednesday, 14,000 foreign workers from 14 countries were brought into Malaysia.
Therefore, he said, employers could apply for the quota from the ministry.
“Employers only need to pay the levy and comply with the conditions set to bring in the foreign workers. We have foreign workers from 14 countries and employers can choose,” he said.
On Friday, Sinar Harian reported that employers in various sectors in the country, including manufacturing, plantations, services, tourism, hospitality and construction, faced shortage in foreign workers despite the government's announcement on the entry of migrant workers from Oct 1.
Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said the labour shortage situation in the country was getting worse as there were no solution to the problem, yet.
He said the plantation sector, is facing loses of RM30 billion due to worker shortage of about 72,000 (workers).
