HIRING of new foreign workers has been frozen until the end of the year, said Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan today.

“We are not allowing the (hiring of) foreign workers until year end,” he told reporters at a press conference.

He said the priority now is helping locals find jobs.

The government will assess the situation at the end of the year before it would consider allowing the hiring of foreign workers.

The unemployment rate is now estimated at about 5.5%, or 860,000 jobless people, he said.

The Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), an agency under the ministry, is looking at creating 40,000 jobs under Penjana initiatives.

There are five initiatives under the HRDF’s Penjana initiative – training and placement, upskilling and skills development, small and medium enterprises development, Bottom 40 sevelopment and Gerak Insan Gemilang.

Saravanan said the government is tackling unemployment caused by the pandemic.

He advised Malaysians to take up any job.

“Malaysians should change their mindset and accept any available job opportunities,” he said.

“If Malaysians can accept the available job opportunities, then we will not need foreign workers,” he added.

Saravanan said if Malaysians were ready to accept the available jobs, the rate of unemployment can be minimised. – June 22, 2020.