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KUALA LUMPUR – Despite welcoming the news that the supply of workers from Indonesia to Malaysia will resume, several employers’ associations have expressed hopes that a similar situation does not repeat itself in the future.
Malaysian Employers Federation president Datuk Syed Hussain Syed Husman said the federation hopes that there will be no further delay in procuring labour resources which has been agreed by Malaysia and the respective source countries.
He said that the industry is currently experiencing a severe labour shortage involving more than 1.2 million workers, especially migrant workers.
According to him, the manufacturing sector suffers from a 40% shortage of the total workforce, while the construction sector requires approximately 550,000 workers and the plantation sector 120,000 workers.
“Operators are scrambling to restore their businesses and reduce the amount of losses suffered due to Covid-19 as well as the uncertainty due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“Employers have already suffered huge losses due to not being able to fulfil bookings, missed opportunities and penalties due to late completion of bookings.
“All this happened due to lack of manpower. For example, in the plantation sector, the loss suffered was more than RM32 billion due to the lack of palm fruit pickers,” he said.
Pending the arrival of new migrant workers from approved source countries, Syed Hussain suggested the government facilitate the recruitment of refugees, political asylum seekers and parolees.
According to the UNHCR, he said, there are currently more than 180,000 refugees with more than 60% of them able to work.
He said the recalibration programme could be revised to encourage more undocumented migrants to register under it.
“For the long term, the industry should switch to Industrial Revolution 4.0 in order to reduce the need for manpower and dependence on foreign workers.
“Employees should improve their skills and add skills to stay relevant to the ever-changing needs of the industry,” he said.
Previously, the Indonesian government reportedly agreed to lift the restrictions on the entry of its workforce into Malaysia, effective August 1.
This came after the two countries agreed to integrate the existing system, between the Immigration Department and the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia for the recruitment of Indonesian domestic workers and workforce.
In the meantime, the National Association of Private Employment Agencies (Papsma) secretary-general Sukumaran Nair said his side hopes the government will implement a form of closer understanding or friendship with source countries with a protocol to bring in the workers involved so that it is properly coordinated.
He added that the government through the Human Resources Ministry was urged to invite industry and market players who have licences to bring in foreign workers to Malaysia for engagement sessions.
“Why weren’t we called? Why are we not given the opportunity to be together in government-to-government decisions? Why are we not called to do business-to-business?
“We have no problems with employment agencies or recruitment agencies for foreign workers from these source countries. We have no problem at all. What often has a problem is the protocol from the government, that is, we do not fulfil as stated in the agreement or memorandum of understanding,” he said.
In that regard, he explained, Papsma is asking the government to call agencies that have B and C licences, that is, those that can send workers from the source country to Malaysia to participate in the study to coordinate with the country in question.
Malaysian Maid Employers Association president Engku Ahmad Fauzi Engku Muhsein expressed hope that the government would increase the number of source countries for the recruitment of domestic workers.
He explained that, in addition to the existing countries, namely Indonesia and the Philippines, the government needs to expand source countries, including Cambodia and Thailand.
“This step is so that we don’t depend on just one country.
“With the increase in these resource countries, the choice and supply of labour will be ‘healthier’,” he said. – The Vibes, July 31, 2022
