‘No new intake of foreign workers till year end’

There will be no new intake of foreign workers in all sectors until the year end as Malaysians will be given priority to fill up vacancies, says Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

“We will not allow (new) foreign workers until the year end. They (foreigners) can come as tourists, if they are allowed,” he said yesterday after launching the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) initiative under the National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) at his ministry here.

“We will try to reduce foreign workers in the workforce besides giving priority to locals to secure jobs,” he said, adding that there were now about two million foreign workers in the country.

Saravanan said the ministry would evaluate the move by the year end to see if it was effective in helping locals.

He advised job seekers not to be choosy about jobs to help the country reduce its dependence on foreign workers.

He also said that as many as 40,000 jobs would be created for locals who were jobless following the Covid-19 pandemic through the HRDF’s Penjana initiative.

“The job opportunities will be opened up in stages within six months from now,” he added.

He said for a start, 10 organisations under this initiative would be providing 20,000 jobs.

These are the National Tech Association of Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Malaysia Digital Economy, Brickfields Asia College, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, Aeon, 7-Eleven, Grab, Kelly and Care Concierge.

Saravanan said these organisations would offer jobs and skills training through five strategic initiatives provided by the HRDF.

These initiatives are placement and training, skills enhancement and new skills training, small and medium-scale industries (SME) development, B40 development and “gerak insan gemilang”.

Saravanan said the target group of these initiatives were jobless graduates with diploma or degrees, local workers, SME owners and workers, Malaysians from the B40 group and youths.

He said the HRDF had provided RM250mil in matching grant via HRDF Penjana initiative.

“People who have lost their jobs or unemployed graduates must grab this opportunity and improve their skills so that they will remain relevant in the job market,” he added.

Malaysians who are interested to get jobs and undergo skills training through this initiative can register at www.penjanahrdf.com.my. — Bernama