EMPLOYERS are advised to speed up at their end the recruitment of foreign workers as there are still delays by them, although approvals have been given by the government.

Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan said the matter is the responsibility of employers as the government only plays a role in resolving and giving permission to a quota of 400,000 to employers.

“This seems to give the impression that there is a problem at the ministry level, but there is no longer an issue at the ministry,” he said at a press conference. after attending the Meet the Customer Day programme at Menara Manickavasagam in Kuala Lumpur today.

“At the ministry level, we only (implement) until the completion of the MOU (memorandum of understanding) between the source countries and the granting of quotas or approvals.

“So far, we cannot decide which country we need to recruit from because we have 14 source countries (to choose from).

“Many people are aware of this matter. The Human Resources Ministry only gives special approvals and employers have to decide.”

He said workers from Bangladesh and Indonesia are often chosen by employers due to language, religion and culture. However, he urged employers to also hire workers from other countries.

“Don’t just depend on one country because when we do this, many conditions are set when we discuss MOUs and so on,” he said, adding that workers from Sri Lanka had served in the maid sector before.

Yesterday, Saravanan said the government had approved the Sri Lankan government’s application to supply workers and agreed to bring in 10,000 of them in view of the South Asian country’s economic crisis.

On the issue of insufficient workers at restaurants, Saravanan said it is expected to be resolved next week.

“Previously, some parties disputed whether we limited only 25 agencies, but now, we have increased them. The cabinet has decided to increase up to 100 agencies (from Bangladesh) and as of today, we have approved 75 agencies,” he said. – Bernama, September 22, 2022.