Home minister outlines new way for applying for foreign workers
The Malaysian government is reopening its doors to foreign workers in the agriculture, plantations, and mining sectors, according to reports.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has announced that the employment quota for foreign workers will be open for the three sectors until December 31.
All of the subsectors under the three main sectors will also be reopened, Bernama reported.
Additionally, Saifuddin Nasution said the following subsectors under the services sector will also be reopened:
- Wholesale and retail
- Land warehouse
- Security guards
- Metal and scrap materials
- Restaurants
- Laundry
- Cargo
- Building cleaning
"For the construction sector, foreign worker recruitment is only allowed for subsectors involving government projects, while for the manufacturing sector, it will focus on new investments under Mida (Malaysian Investment Development Authority)," the minister added, as quoted by Bernama.
New way of applying
According to Saifuddin, the limited reopening will no longer allow the "Tom, Dick, and Harry" practice.
Employers who want to bring in foreign workers would need to submit their applications through their respective ministries to the technical committee on foreign worker management, the minister said as reported by Free Malaysia Today.
The committee, which comprises deputy secretary-generals from the ministries involved, will verify the applications before final approval is given to a joint committee co-chaired by the Home and Human Resources ministers.
Uneven supply of migrant workers
The employment quota for foreign workers was shuttered in May 2024, restricting employers from bringing in foreign workers following an oversupply of migrant workers in 2023.
A report from the International Labour Organisation, citing Saifuddin, found that more than 667,000 had entered Malaysia as of October 2023, surpassing the target of 518,000.
The services sector saw a surplus of 142,204 migrant workers, exceeding the forecast need of 20,000.
The manufacturing sector also reported a surplus of 197,213 migrant workers against the 50,000 forecast needed.
On the other hand, the construction, plantation, and agriculture sectors still lacked the required number of foreign workers.
"There were 220,230 migrant workers in construction against the 301,000 needed for the sector; 52,123 against the 57,000 needed in the plantation sector; and 53,648 foreign workers against the 90,000 needed in agriculture," the ILO report read.
