HUMAN Resources Minister M. Saravanan has urged employers to hire more Malaysians.

There are still businesses that prefer employing foreign workers, he said.

“I agree that there are sectors that still require foreign workers because we (locals) are not yet ready. For example, in the plantation sector, we need foreign workers. But for a clerk’s position in the sector, there is no need to hire a foreigner.

“Likewise, at petrol stations, foreigners are approved to work as pump attendants, but we’ve also started seeing them manning the counters. This is bad practice. I urge owners of petrol stations to reduce (the hiring of foreign workers),” he said on the Bicara Naratif programme aired on Radio Televisyen Malaysia last night.

He said companies should employ those who have lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic, including youth and single mothers.

The economic crisis will see many locals, especially the younger generation, willing to enter 3D, or dirty, dangerous and difficult, industries, he said.

“Before this, they might not want to work in 3D industries. Some have said locals do not want these jobs. But in today’s extraordinary situation, many are losing their jobs… we have to give them a chance.”

He said the government’s National Economic Recovery Plan has the Employment Incentive Programme with an allocation of RM1.5 billion to encourage employers to hire locals, and this is expected to benefit more than 300,000 people. – Bernama, June 11, 2020.