THE Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) said the foreign worker application procedure should not be halted as it would disrupt the nation’s economic recovery.

In a statement, its president, Soh Thian Lai, said the decision to temporarily suspend the application for the recruitment of migrant workers for two weeks – between August 15 and 31 – will disrupt the operation of industry players.

Soh said that employers were still in the process of replacing workers who left during the pandemic following the freeze on recruitment for a period of two years, while others are in the process of expanding their business scale due to an increase in demand and the need to fulfil the backlog in orders.

“The frequent suspension of the processing of foreign worker applications is very disruptive to the planning of industries in getting workers. Many sectors continue to face numerous challenges including labour shortage that is impairing their ability to operate at maximum capacity towards business recovery,” he said, noting that the previous suspension was between June 1 and 15.

The Human Resources Ministry said the suspension was to allow for a review of the foreign worker hiring procedure, in consideration of the Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 that would be enforced beginning September 1. It also said that a new procedure to take effect on September 1 would be announced soon.

Soh said FMM’s request for the current foreign worker procedure to be maintained is made in light of four current factors.

He said firstly, the decentralisation of the interview process via the One-Stop Centre at the state labour offices, which was introduced only recently, on August 1, is deemed to be “very facilitative” to address the bottleneck in the interview process and ease the congestion at the ministry’s One-Stop Centre in Putrajaya.

Secondly, the frequent suspension of the processing of foreign worker applications prevents industries from achieving their manpower targets as they struggle towards business recovery.  

Thirdly, Soh said, employers require more time to submit their applications as worker requirements are dependent on the projects they receive and demand for orders.

“The stoppage and any changes to the procedure will derail the manpower planning of the manufacturing industry, leading to their inability to fulfil their projects and orders,” he added.

And finally, he said that there are still many applications pending processing and approval but the industry requires a very efficient processing system for a quick turnaround on the applications.

“As such, FMM reiterates its call for the ministry to maintain the current application procedure and conditions as the labour shortage faced now is extremely serious. It is impacting the pace of business recovery and ability of businesses to fulfil orders with fear of losing orders and customers or facing stiff penalties for delays.” – August 13, 2022