THE Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) seeks to meet the new home minister and his counterpart at the human resources ministry to resolve the shortage of foreign workers.  

MEF president Syed Hussain Syed Husman said the meeting with Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and V. Sivakumar could help address the issue and ensure that businesses operated at optimal levels. 

He said MEF agreed that all matters relating to foreign workers should come under the Ministry of Human Resources, which took the lead in the administration of the one-stop-centre on the application and processing of foreign worker employment.  

“The MOHR is the appropriate ministry to handle human resources issues and the issuance of visas remains with the Immigration Department of the home ministry,” he said in a statement today. 

Syed Hussain also welcomed Saifuddin’s assurances to ease foreign labour shortages in the country. 

He said the minister’s prompt action would ease bottlenecks faced by businesses in their daily operations and assist them in meeting their requirements.  

“The assurance given by minister that the remaining 30,410 employers’ applications for foreign workers will be processed and be considered for approval within seven working days is indeed very assuring. 

“It shows Saifuddin’s seriousness in addressing the issues faced by employers due to shortages of foreign labour,” he said. 

Syed Hussain also said that MEF appreciated the minister’s readiness to share relevant details on the current number of foreign workers in the country. 

He added that the information would assist stakeholders to make proper assessments of the additional number of foreign workers required by their respective industries.  

He said that up to November 2022, there were 1,391,624 foreign workers with temporary work permits. 

The distribution is based on sectors including manufacturing (510,507), construction (308,886), plantation (160,728), services (208,425), agriculture (110,598), foreign domestic employees (92,338) and mining/quarrying (142). 

Saifuddin said yesterday that the Immigration Department had approved 373,459 applications to bring in foreign workers through Visa With Reference (VDR) from January 1 to December 4 this year. 

The figures are part of 403,869 applications received to bring in foreign workers, while the remaining 30,410 applications are being processed. – December 10, 2022.