KUALA LUMPUR – The government is intent on opening up more job opportunities for ex-convicts so as to replace foreign workers in the country, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar reasoned that this is because former prisoners, especially those who have finished serving minor sentences, are still productive for work and can contribute to the economy.
"We can use their energy (ex-convicts) to replace foreign workers,” he said in replying to an oral question from RSN Rayer (Jelutong-PH).
Rayer had enquired about whether the government plans to facilitate a functional connection between employers and prisons in order to enable those who have served time in jail to replace foreign workers.
Sivakumar said that several initiatives have been undertaken by the Human Resources Ministry in collaboration with the Home Ministry on this matter.
He said the initiative to help ex-convicts to get jobs has been implemented through the Social Security Organisation (Socso), which provides training for them.
"Many (former prisoners) have also been given job opportunities,” he said.
“Those who are in prison have been given training and those who come out of prison after undergoing the training have also been placed in the world of work," he said.
In April this year, Sivakumar had revealed that there were 77,000 prisoners who could be hired upon their release.
He urged more employers to come forward to give them a second chance to start a new life after serving their sentences.
From 2021 until last March, a total of 588 prisoners, ex-prisoners and inmates of Henry Gurney School had received job offers through initiatives such as the Free Inmates Licence Placement Programme and Re-Entry@MyFutureJobs Programme.
This number comprised 409 ex-prisoners, 44 parolees and persons under supervision while the rest involved inmates of Henry Gurney School.
Meanwhile, Sivakumar also informed the Dewan Rakyat today that the total projected number of foreign workers was 2,730,153 as of September 30.
He said they included 1,830,828 active Temporary Employment Pass holders, 152,158 foreign workers who had yet to enter the country, and 747,167 registered illegal immigrants under the Workforce Recalibration Programme 2.0.
"The use of foreign workers is to meet the labour needs of certain sectors which have difficulty being filled with local workers,” he said.
“Therefore, the government implements various initiatives, across ministries and agencies, to encourage the local workforce to venture into jobs in sectors dominated by foreign workers.”
He said this in response to a question by Datuk Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang) on the present foreign-worker situation in Malaysia.
"The ministry encourages industries to switch to the use of automation, mechanisation and digitalisation that can create demand for high-skilled workers, thus gradually reducing the dependence on low-skilled foreign workers," he added. – The Vibes, October 31, 2023
