THE freeze on foreign workers’ applications will affect the country’s productivity and gross domestic product, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Soh Thian Lai said.

He said the sudden decision by the government to stop all applications and approvals for foreign workers from March 18 will deprive companies of orderbook fulfilments, especially for export markets.

“The government cannot make a flip-flop decision and suddenly freeze any government policy because this will affect the recruitment process, especially at small and medium enterprises” whose sales are only now improving, he told reporters after launching the Skill for Prosperity Programme in Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said at a recent meeting with ministers, he learned the decision to freeze foreign worker approvals was due to quotas that were approved but not utilised by employers within 30 days.

He said new investors will have to start applying for their foreign worker quotas as they will require some level of low-skill manpower for certain processes to begin operations.

Soh said during the movement control order, nearly 1.5 million foreign workers were deported, and that there is currently up to 1.3 million foreign workers in Malaysia. – Bernama, April 11, 2023.