Immigration crackdown causes labour shortage

THE current crackdown on illegal migrant workers by the Immigration Department has resulted in a labour shortage in particularly the construction industry.
And consequently, migrant workers with valid papers are now worth more based on the law of supply and demand.
According to a report in Nanyang Siang Pau today, legal migrant workers are taking advantage of the situation to ask for better pay, with the wages of these workers in some projects going up by more than 100%.
Some migrant workers have also “run away” from their current employers to offer their services to the highest “bidders” in the industry.
The same scenario is also seen in other sectors including manufacturing, the report said, adding that in the furniture industry, the hike in wages in tandem with the demand for labour has attracted many locals back to the carpentry workforce.
Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) president Foo Chek Lee told Nanyang a number of sectors are seeing a drop in manpower in the wake of the immigration blitz on illegal migrant workers.
Citing Petronas’ Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) Project in Pengerang, Johor, as an example, he said due to its huge demand for labour, the daily wages have gone up from RM45 to RM100 per day for unskilled workers and from RM120 to RM320, or an increase of 160%, for skilled workers.
“Odd-job workers in other sectors are having their daily wages raised to between RM60 and RM70, from RM50 before, whereas skilled workers are getting between RM130 and RM140, up from between RM110 and RM120 before.
The Immigration department’s crackdown to flush out illegal migrant workers following the expiry of the deadline for employers to apply for the Enforcement Card or E-Card for their illegal workers on June 30 has netted 3,014 illegals and 57 errant employers at the last count on July 10.