‘Long-term solution needed on foreign labour’

SMEs forced to look elsewhere as M’sians aren’t keen to work for them, say experts

JOHOR BARU: The Government should come out with a long-term solution for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to hire foreign workers, according to its past head.

SME Association of Malaysia past president Teh Kee Sin said such businesses were forced to look outside as Malaysians were not interested to work for them.

He said the situation was worse for companies in Johor Baru with many preferring to take up jobs in Singapore.

He said the crackdown on illegal foreign workers and later rehiring them was “nothing new” as this had been done many times.

“Locals are not keen to take up the 3D (difficult, dirty and dangerous) jobs, leaving most SMEs with no choice but to engage foreigners,” he said.

He was commenting on the measures taken by the new Pakatan Harapan government to reduce foreign workers in the country.

Teh said the rehiring of foreign workers was also not an easy process as the company tasked with it took over a year to complete the task.

“Companies can’t wait as time is of the essence and without workers, it will jeopardise their survival,” he said when contacted.

Johor Indian Business Association (Jiba) president P. Sivakumar echoed the call, saying the Pakatan Harapan government should relook its policy to bar smaller private institutions from offering technical and vocational education (TVET) to dropouts and workers.

He cited the case of Institut Teknologi Jiba which opened in 1993, before being forced to

The Government is talking about reducing the country’s dependency on foreign workers but our policy on skilled and semi-skilled workers is off the mark. P. Sivakumar

close in 2004 after not getting accreditation from the Malaysian Qualifications Agency.

He said the institute was licensed to offer electronics and electrical courses for students and workers but had to close because it failed to get accreditation.

Sivakumar said the flip-flop in policies was a major loss to the country as it did not serve the purpose of producing semi-skilled and skilled workers.

He said from 1993 to 2004, Institiut Teknologi Jiba had produced some 2,000 certified wiremen.

“The Government is talking about reducing the country’s dependency on foreign workers but our policy on skilled and semi-skilled workers is off the mark,” he said.

He said as general degree holders were “fighting like crazy” to secure jobs after graduating, TVET would be a better option to secure employment.