KUALA LUMPUR – Top Glove Corporation Bhd has pledged to vaccinate all of its staff, including foreign workers, once the Covid-19 vaccine is made available.
Executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai said this is to ensure uninterrupted production for the long run, besides making sure employees are in good physical and mental health, which contributes to the company’s financial health.
“We are still waiting for the vaccine from the government, and we will be more than happy to get our staff vaccinated. We had over 21,000 employees at 47 factories and 750 production lines as of December 2020,” he said in a virtual courtesy call with Bangladeshi High Commissioner Golam Sarwar and Deepak Dhakal, the labour counsellor at the Nepali embassy, today.
To enhance foreign workers’ welfare, said Lim, the company has continuously invested in better accommodation at its facilities in Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Negri Sembilan, Kelantan and Johor under its medium-term plan, with a capital expenditure of RM195 million.
“We are building and buying new worker hostels, which are fully equipped with facilities and amenities, and are expected to be completed by 2023.”
Top Glove is also targeting becoming a Fortune Global 500 company by 2030, with its growth to be up tenfold, achieving US$30 billion (RM121.4 billion) in sales revenue, and scaling up to 150 factories with 100,000 employees, he said.
“This long-term plan can be achieved through technology and innovation, research and development, as well as artificial and human intelligence, supported by 10,000 global talent, researchers and young university graduates.”
Sarwar expressed hope that the company will continue to ensure the health and well-being of its employees, particularly foreign workers, and ensure they are protected and vaccinated against Covid-19.
Top Glove’s net profit surged more than 20 times to RM2.38 billion in the first quarter of the financial year 2021 ended November 30, 2020 (Q1FY21), from RM111.43 million in Q1FY20.
The rubber glove giant was previously embroiled in issues relating to workers’ well-being, and non-compliance with the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990.
It also made the headlines after its workers became Malaysia’s biggest Covid-19 cluster, namely the Teratai cluster.
As at 3pm, the company’s shares rose 0.45% to RM6.67. – Bernama, January 29, 2021
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