Cap on foreign labour?

PETALING JAYA: The number of foreign workers should be limited to perhaps 30% or 50% of the manpower strength in non-essential sectors.
According to Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan (pix), this will not only help to ensure sufficient employment for locals struggling to cope with the crippling job market but also reduce the country's dependency on foreign labour.
Non-essential sectors which should be considered for implementation of such a policy should include restaurants, convenience stores and hypermarkets.
"This will improve the ratio of local to foreign workers in some of these industries so there will be no need to bring in so many foreign workers," he told theSun.
He noted that although implementing this policy may take time, it will be beneficial for the country and locals in the long run.
Shamsuddin said, however, that while this is the desired long-term outcome, employers will also need time to readjust to such a policy and cannot be expected to replace their foreign workers overnight.
Locals may also need to be reoriented, up-skilled, trained or retrained to take on jobs.
"We try to attract many locals but some of the sectors are unable to attract them as they may find those jobs unattractive," he said.
"For example, there are a lot of complaints by the plantation sector to say that there is a shortage of local harvesters resulting in their fruit and produce rotting and costing wastage amounting to RM1 billion, which is why they resort to foreign workers."
But given time and effort to increase mechanisation and automation to reduce manual labour, fewer foreign workers may be needed in future.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general N. Gopal Krishnan said he fully supports such a policy, citing that "charity begins at home".
"Employers need to play a role to reduce foreign workers. Before the influx of foreign workers, there were many locals who could do the jobs.
"But employers must be willing to pay locals what they deserve instead of resorting to foreign labour," he said, adding that wages is at the crux of the matter.
A Human Resources Ministry official said there is currently no law to cap the percentage of foreign workers an employer has in his or her workforce.
"It is all about competition and profits. We cannot compel anyone to only hire locals as many feel that employing foreigners is much cheaper and profitable.
"Until we find a way how to strike a balance, there is nothing the ministry can do to get employers to hire locals. It is up to them," he said.