Call for urgency in replacing foreign workers with locals

The Malaysian Employers Federation has called for quick action to replace foreign workers with locals, saying this has been made necessary by the loss of jobs among Malaysians.

PETALING JAYA: The nation’s biggest organisation of employers has called for quick action to replace foreign workers with locals, saying this has been made necessary by the loss of jobs among Malaysians as a result of the movement control order (MCO) and the slowing of the economy.

Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan told FMT he agreed with a report quoting small and medium enterprises sources that about a million Malaysians would lose their jobs because of the two-week MCO.

He said companies employing 10 workers or less were particularly vulnerable and might go bust.

There are about 650,000 of these micro-sized companies supplying goods and services to bigger companies.

“They may not have the savings to sustain their operations,” Shamsuddin said.

Shamsuddin Bardan

He urged bigger companies to offer Malaysians jobs currently filled by foreigners.

He acknowledged that it would be difficult to immediately dismiss the majority of foreign workers, but he urged the government to draw a timeline for doing so as soon as possible.

He said thousands of locals could work as security guards if working conditions were improved and the job scope rebranded.

“Give them training so they can work in emergency response teams. Give them extra allowances.”

He noted reports saying there are more than two million foreign workers and millions more working illegally in Malaysia.

He said it was time to push for automation and improve work standards to attract Malaysian employees.

He urged the government to look at every possible means of helping companies to remain in business and workers to keep their jobs.

He also said Kuala Lumpur City Hall should act against the “many illegal businesses in Kota Raya and Bukit Bintang” operated by foreigners and thereby open up opportunities for Malaysians.

Yap Lip Seng

Malaysian Association of Hotels chief executive Yap Lip Seng said his group had estimated that at least 30% of hotel workers would lose their jobs.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the hotel industry employs about 220,000 workers.

Yap told FMT the Covid-19 outbreak had caused hotels to lose more than 50% of their business even before the MCO came into effect on March 18.

“With the MCO, most hotels expect to lose RM500 million in revenue,” he said, adding that the majority of them could not sustain such losses for more than three months.

He said the members of his association were hoping employees would accept offers of temporary unpaid leave.

He also said the next few months would be extremely challenging, with hotels needing to decide whether they should continue to remain in business. - FMT