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KUALA LUMPUR - The government will continue to examine the need for hiring foreign workers according to the established channels and regulations, while ensuring that job opportunities created are given priority to locals, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the government acknowledged that several sectors still needed foreign workers, but coordination needed to be done so that legal foreign workers who are already in the country were given priority to fill job vacancies before new recruitment was made.
"We do need foreign workers, that's a statement. But there are many in Malaysia, millions, and millions are needed.
"We know that foreign worker syndicates are also a burden for decades and a place for people to amass wealth. So for me, this issue must be addressed because there are several job sectors that needed foreign workers,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was replying a supplementary question by Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) on the shortage of foreign workers which is affecting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as the issue of job opportunities for the young.
Anwar said the government agreed that there was a need to increase the number of foreign workers in certain sectors, but the matter needed to be studied jointly by the Ministry of Human Resources and the Ministry of Home Affairs, taking into account security aspects.
At the same time, he stressed that enforcement action would continue to be strengthened against foreign workers who violate the law regardless of nationality or ethnicity, including the Rohingya.
"If the rules are followed, whether for local or foreign workers, we will provide protection, but if the rules are violated, business places are seized, of course there will be a reaction. So, it is best that the enforcement agencies be strict,” he said.
Regarding job opportunities for young people, Anwar said the government is tightening the entry requirements for foreign professional workers to ensure that employers do not abuse the approvals given.
He said there are companies that have applied to bring in experts in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), but it was found that the workers hired did not carry out tasks based on the approved expertise.
"If we need expert skills in digital or AI, we can bring them in. But do not use that as an excuse to bring in a company with workers who are not the expertise we are trying to develop,” he said. - BERNAMA
