Foreign labour 'not the answer'
2011/03/08 KUALA LUMPUR: The government should look at ways to attract Malaysians to work in sectors that are facing shortage of workers instead of taking the easy way out by allowing foreigners to come in.
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president Mohd Khalid Atan claimed that there were no proper statistics on the manpower shortage to justify the government's decision to allow 45,000 foreign workers to work in several sectors.
"We want to know if there has been a proper survey conducted to ascertain the number of foreign workers needed.
"Stop giving estimation. There must be justification in approving 45,000 foreign workers."
He said allowing the foreigners to come into the country without proper statistical support would not help the country handle its manpower problem.
Khalid said according to the Human Resources Ministry, there was a need for foreign workers in the plantation, manufacturing and services sectors.
He said the government should increase the minumum wages so that locals would take up the jobs.
"We cannot expect people to live on low salaries. Can you tell me who would want to take home RM300 or RM400 monthly with the high cost of living now?"
Khalid said the salaries of those working in lowly paid sectors should be increased to between RM900 and RM1,200.
"We cannot blame the locals for not taking up certain jobs. We should create a mechanism to attract them to these jobs."
He said RM400 was a big amount for a foreign worker but the same could not be said for locals, especially if they had families to support.
He added that better benefits, safe working conditions and good job prospects would also attract more locals to work in these sectors.
"People are shying away from these jobs for many reasons. We should create better packages to attract them, not by simply bringing in foreign workers."
Khalid said when the foreign workers returned to their countries, the government would be forced to bring in another batch.
"When will this end? Even if the foreigners are trained or become skilled workers after a few years, they will still return to their countries and all the training will be wasted."
The government recently approved the intake of 45,000 foreigners for the Indian business community in 13 sectors, including restaurants, provision shops, goldsmiths and textile shops.
The approval was given after the Malaysian Associated Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry submitted a memorandum to the government.
Ya, find better ways to attract Malaysians to work in those unattractive sectors. Such as minimum wage policy. So that we don't have to rely too much on foreign labor.
BalasPadamThere are many disadvantages hiring foreign workers. They can earn money here, but they usually send it back to their home country, this affects our country's economics.
BalasPadamFOREIGN LABOUR 'NOT THE ANSWER'
BalasPadamI couldn't agree more.
Hiring foreign workers could lead to the increase of crime rate.
BalasPadamHiring foreign workers is like a quick solution to fill in the shortage of workers. Wouldn't it better if the government could first find ways to attract locals to work in those certain sector?? Hiring foreign workers shouldn't be the only solution to this problem.
BalasPadamSebelum kerajaan membuat keputusan untuk mengambil pekerja asing, kerajaan haruslah berusaha untuk menarik minat pekerja tempatan untuk kerja di sektor yang kekurangan pekerja.
BalasPadamsaya setuju jika pekerja tempatan diberikan keutamaan. apa pun, harap pada masa akan datang kita tidak lagi bergantung kepada pekerja dari negara asing.
BalasPadamkita jgnlah terlalu harapkan pekerja asing, lakukan usaha untuk menggalakkan penduduk tempatan bekerja bekerja di pebagai sektor di negera kita.
BalasPadamGovernment should give priority to the local. Government should do the minimum wage.
BalasPadamWhy should we take the foreign worker?Better we teach our people about the skill and fill that vacancy. No need to take the foreign, soon will give the problem to our country..
BalasPadamsince the government does not have any better suggestions or any ideas to solve labor shortage in this country, why not use the proposals made by the MTUC? the government should know that foreign workers could affect our country's financial and led to the problem of unemployment among locals.
BalasPadamA very strong answer! In the end it will be the foreigners who are better than the locals. Phew.
BalasPadamThey did not discuss before making this huge decision?
BalasPadamSaya juga tidak setuju dengan pengambilan pekerja asing dengan jumlah yang sangat banyak.
BalasPadamHarap kerajaan menimbangkan keputusan mereka ini.
BalasPadamforeign labour is not the answer (solution)..
BalasPadamThe government should look at ways to attract Malaysians to work in sectors that are facing shortage of workers instead of taking the easy way out by allowing foreigners to come in.
BalasPadamhope govt will not import more foreign workers anymore...we have lots of PATI to deal with already..
BalasPadamminimum wages policy should be implement ASAP..
BalasPadamUtamakanlah pekerja tempatan:)
BalasPadamSebaiknya kurangkanlah mengambil pekerja asing dan kalau boleh laksanakan segera gaji minimum utk tarik minat pekerja tempatan utk bekerja di sektor2 yang kurang pekerja.
BalasPadamSekiranya kerajaan pguatkuasakn tahap minimum gaji, pada pendapat saya tentu ramai rakyat M'sia yang akan memenuhi sektor2 yang memerlukan. Majikan tidak akan memilih pekerja asing.
BalasPadam