Special committee to facilitate hiring of migrants

Functions include improving coordination between Human Resources and Home ministries

KUALA LUMPUR: A special committee is being set up to improve coordination between the Human Resources and Home ministries to deal with the employment of foreigners.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said there have been problems regarding employment of migrants.

He said the committee will enhance cooperation between the two ministries that play different roles in managing the recruitment of foreign labour.

Saravanan said the government has had problems getting information on the exact number of foreign workers in the country.

“The Home minister has agreed to the setting up of a platform to enable us to get an accurate figure on foreign workers,” he said, on the issue of different statistical information among government agencies.

The Human Resources Ministry deals with employment issues while the Home Ministry handles work permits.

To a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (PH– Kulim Bandar Baharu) on the number of registered migrant workers, Saravanan said the figure had dropped from 1.98 million in January to 1.54 million in May, based on data from the Immigration Department.

He said the government will focus on providing job opportunities to locals while reducing dependency on foreign labour, adding that foreigners dominated the manufacturing and construction sectors.

“As of July 1, the ministry requires manufacturers to advertise vacancies on the Jobs Malaysia portal for 30 days.

“Only then will they be allowed to apply for permits to recruit foreign workers and expatriates if vacancies are not filled by locals.”

There are currently over two million registered foreign workers, with 700,000 in the manufacturing sector and 309,000 in the services sector.