BUSINESS owners have shot down Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli’s call for the government to phase out migrant workers starting next year.

They said the current situation demands for foreign workers, especially in certain sectors.

They told The Malaysian Insight that there are many areas of work that Malaysians refused to participate in, thus prompting the hiring of foreign labourers.

Johor South small and medium enterprises (SME) Association adviser Teh Kee Sin said while reducing dependency on foreign workers may be possible, phasing out reliance on them would be a mammoth task.

He said locals were often reluctant to take up 3D (dangerous, dirty and difficult) jobs.

“First, we need to know why the foreign workers are being recruited. The minister has to know why we, especially the SMEs, hire foreign workers. When we talk about foreign labour, we are talking about dirty, dangerous and difficult jobs which generally our own people do not want.

“Our people do not want to do these jobs. Therefore, we have no choice but to hire foreign manpower. For example, take a dishwasher at a restaurant, how many locals would you see scrubbing plates and utensils? Mostly, they are Myanmar or Nepali,” said Teh.

Teh branded Rafizi’s dream as beautiful but to implement the policy would be tough.

“Are we there to reduce it? We have to look at the actual scenario. We want to go high tech, robotic or even artificial intelligence but there would still be 3D jobs. Who would do them?”

He also highlighted the importance of cost competitiveness, which, he said, was easier for the employers with foreign workers as it can reduce the cost of paying salaries.

“If we depend on local manpower, we may have to pay more on wages. How then can we compete with our neighbours in terms of attracting foreign direct investment?

“If our cost is already high, FDI won’t come in. They might go to some other countries that can offer less cost,” he argued.

Last week, Rafizi said 2024 will see the government look into sectoral reforms to complement the government’s major economic plans.

“For next year, the biggest thing we will focus on is reforming the labour market, especially on a timeline to put all the systems in place for us to start phasing down dependency on foreign workers,” he had said.

“So, to the employers who are listening, it’s coming.”

Wage factor

Another SME business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said it would take Malaysians years to accept that some of them are required to work in 3D jobs.

“They want to be at least a mandor (supervisor). You’ll never see them work side by side with foreign workers and even if they do, they act as though they are the superior.

“To cut the long story short, Malaysians do not want to work in the 3D job sectors. Whether in plantation or construction, or working in a restaurant. That is why we see many of the jobs taken by foreign workers.”

He added that wages are also a concern for local workers.

“With our rising cost of living, locals will demand more in salary. They are working in a tough sector and are dangerous. Who would want to pay them higher when they can hire foreign workers with less salary?” he said.

Meanwhile, Mydin managing director Ameer Ali Mydin said foreign workers in Malaysia are crucial as sectors such as plantation and construction depend on them.

“In every country, whether it is a developed or developing country, there will always be foreign workers. There are foreign workers in the US, in Japan, Germany, Arab states and so on. But in what sectors do they rely on foreign workers?

“If we look here, we may need big numbers of foreign labourers in the plantation sectors or in the construction sectors. Not many Malaysians are interested in construction work even if the pay is good.

“Malaysians who go to Singapore to work, they also don’t work in the construction field but more on services or manufacturing,” he said.

He added that wage policy also plays an important role, suggesting that a lower wage system would deter foreign workers from coming here.

“I think our dependency will reduce if we don’t increase wage policy. Not many would want to come.

“We have seen an increase in the minimum wage in India and Indonesia so if we don’t increase our wage policy, they may not be interested to come here. This will reduce our dependency,” said Ameer.

The Statistics Department stated that as of 2022, there were around 2.2 million documented migrant workers in Malaysia.

Unofficial estimates, meanwhile, show that undocumented or irregular migrants workers range from 1.2 to 3.5 million.

Only six employment sectors are allowed to hire foreign workers in the formal sectors which include construction, manufacturing, services, plantation, agriculture as well as mining and quarrying. There are 15 source countries allowed to supply foreign workers to Malaysia.

However, the industries keep demanding for the government to continuously increase foreign workers. It is common to see foreign workers in almost every line of work in Malaysia. – December 12, 2023