KUALA LUMPUR – Foreign worker shortage needs to be resolved soon, said the National Recovery Council (NRC). This is because the number of foreign labour arriving in Malaysia is too little compared to the amount of levies already paid at RM713,890 for the 467,223 approved quota.
NRC chief executive officer Tan Sri Sulaiman Mahbob said the quota approval and levy payment statistics as of September 12, 2022, recorded 467,223 approved quotas. However, only 76,000 labour entries from 12 countries were recorded for the same period.
“That figure is too little compared to the levies already paid. Therefore, we want the Home Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry to review the process of hiring foreign workers because many sectors have a very high level of dependency.
“We found that many workers applied and made payments, but there are fewer people arriving. The question is, why haven’t they come? Does it involve their country’s problems or some other reason? This point needs to be emphasised. Otherwise, the agriculture sector, especially palm oil, will continue to suffer problems from worker shortage,” he told reporters in a recent media briefing.
He explained that labour-intensive industries such as manufacturing, tourism, construction and retail sectors, including electronics and agriculture, are also seen to be affected by the labour shortage issue
In addition to the workforce issue, Sulaiman said investment and trade as well as micro, small and medium enterprises also need to be prioritised in the country’s recovery process.
He said Malaysia needs to encourage more investment because it offers people job opportunities, while trade ensures that the country’s economic recovery continues as our economy depends on global trade.
“In the context of the affected supply chain, many export activities have been disrupted (due to the Covid-19 pandemic). However, in this recovery process, we see that Port Klang’s performance has improved.
“They are ready and able to attract cargo to our ports. The port sector really helps us increase exports,” he said.
In terms of the development of micro, small and medium enterprises, Sulaiman said that these groups need special attention from the government because they are the backbone of the country’s domestic investment. – Bernama, October 31, 2022
