Malaysia’s new government is working to restore order to the labor market. There have already been warnings of strict action against employers who fire Malaysian locals for hiring foreign workers. Speaking at a Social Security Organization (SOCSO) program on Saturday, February 4, Malaysia’s human resources minister said no excuses will be accepted if the government sees local workers losing their jobs to foreigners. Strict action will be taken against the employer.

He said that it is not right to replace locals with foreign workers due to the laxity of the government in hiring foreign workers. Meanwhile, several organizations claimed that Malaysian workers were being retrenched to hire foreign workers in key sectors such as manufacturing, construction, plantations, agriculture and services.

meanwhile Malaysia wants to reduce immigration costs to boost stagnant labor market. This was said by Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasusan bin Ismail after meeting with Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment Minister Imran Ahmad in the meeting room of the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment on Sunday.

A major part of the discussion in the meeting was the earlier compromise agreement. The minister said that the Malaysian government wants to protect the dignity of foreign workers and reduce immigration costs. The minister also said that if that goal cannot be reached in the current process, then Malaysia is ready to make changes to the settlement agreement. Meanwhile, the owners of recruiting agencies are seeing hope in such words of the minister. They claim that if the new agreement is signed, the Malaysian labor market will be free of syndicates and that workers can be sent through all legitimate recruiting agencies.

See also: