EMPLOYMENT agencies want the government to streamline the recruitment and registration process of migrant workers for faster approvals.

“It’s not smooth enough and the process takes a long time,” Malaysian Association of Employment Agencies president Foo Yong Hooi said.

According to Foo, since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, the outdated system had been overwhelmed by the rush to hire migrant workers.

Malaysian National Association Employment Agencies president Fiona Low said the recruitment process was bogged down by too much red tape.

“There are too many regulations to comply with,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

Foo said the recruitment of Indonesian domestic workers is a “complex and three-stage process”.

“First the prospective employer has to submit his application to the Human Resources Ministry and the Indonesian embassy before submitting it to the Immigration Department.”

These authorities take a long time to respond to the application, he said.

In contrast, Foo said it is much simpler to hire Filipino maids.

“We submit the applications directly to the Immigration Department and then the Philippines embassy. That’s the full process”.

Low said it is harder to recruit Indonesians now because of the row between Putrajaya and Jakarta over the treatment of maids in Malaysia.

The process is not the only problem, she said, adding that the wages of Indonesian maids have skyrocketed to put them on par with those of Filipino maids, so, Low said, more people are hiring Filipinos.

In July, Indonesia barred Malaysian employers from hiring its citizens following a dispute over a memorandum of understanding on the employment and protection of Indonesian domestic helpers.

The freeze was lifted on August 1.

A joint statement issued by Indonesian Labour Minister Ida Fauziyah and then Malaysian human resources minister Saravanan stated that Malaysia and Indonesia had agreed to integrate their recruitment systems.

Even though the demand for migrant workers is reported to have levelled out, Foo said a smoother hiring process would allow more sectors to qualify for foreign labour.

“The large factories have more or less solved their manpower problem. It’s only the smaller factories and restaurants that are still looking for foreign workers.

“Many of them do not know how to go about it. Most get stuck in the preliminary stage for failing to meet certain criteria.”

Only the construction, agriculture, plantation, manufacturing and services sectors are allowed to hire migrant workers.

About 300,000 applications to hire foreigners have recently been approved. – December 16, 2022.