System to better manage foreign workers in Sarawak being developed

THE Sarawak government is developing an integrated system to manage the affairs of foreign workers in the state, says Minister in Premier of Sarawak’s Department Datuk John Sikie Tayai.

According to him, the plan is to ensure a more effective and efficient management of the recruitment and employment of foreign workers, especially in terms of the application process.

“One of the features is the job portal platform, where there is job-matching between the employers and local job-seekers.

“At the same time, the state government has access to the data and information related to employment and industry needs in Sarawak,” he said in his winding-up speech yesterday.

Sikie also said the Department of Labour Sarawak (JTKS) had made improvements to the standard operating procedures (SOP), in that it allowed employers to submit an application for a ‘letter of approval in principle’ via email or post, aside from them having to be physically carry this out at the nearest Labour Office.

“Employers also no longer need to deal physically with the Labour Office with regard to collecting their ‘Non-Resident Employee Employment’ licenses, which can be downloaded directly via the Licence Repository e-NRE

System.”

According to Sikie, the state government allows the recruitment and employment of expatriates, foreign skilled or semi-skilled workers and also general workers in Sarawak – on condition that only jobs with skills not readily available in Sarawak are being offered to them.

“Nevertheless, the state government would prioritise job vacancies for Sarawakians, encouraging them to be involved in the local labour market.

“Therefore, employers need to advertise vacancies on the MyFutureJobs portal managed by Socso (Social Security Organisation), on local newspapers and radio stations, to give opportunities to the locals first, before the employers’ applications to hire foreign workers could be considered,” he added.