KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Minister has stated that the relaxation of regulations on the hiring of foreign workers and the recalibration exercise have resulted in an excess of over 250,000 foreign workers in the manufacturing and service sectors. Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution made this statement based on an analysis of the number of foreign workers compared to labour needs forecast in five main sectors. As of October 9, a total of 667,418 foreign workers were present in the country, exceeding the forecast of 518,000.
According to Saifuddin Nasution, the joint committee on the management of foreign workers found that there was an oversupply of foreign workers in the services sector. The forecast for the service sector was 20,000 foreign workers, but the actual number is 142,204. Similarly, the number of foreign workers in factories was forecasted to be 50,000, but there are 197,213 of them.
The situation is different in the construction, plantation, and agriculture sectors. In construction, there were 220,230 foreign workers, below the forecasted 301,000. In agriculture, there were 53,648 foreign workers compared to the required 90,000. The plantation sector had 52,123 foreign workers, still short of the needed 57,000.
Based on this data, three sectors are experiencing a deficit in foreign workers, while two others have a surplus. Currently, there are 1.7 million legal foreign workers in the country. However, the Economic Planning Unit’s policy sets a limit of 2.4 million foreign workers by 2025. Therefore, the relaxation plan ended in March of this year, and the recalibration programme will end on December 31. Afterward, there will be no more intake of foreign workers except for those approved under the quota.
About 800,000 foreign workers are currently under verification following the relaxation and recalibration programmes. When asked about the oversupply of foreign workers in the service sector, Saifuddin Nasution did not rule out the possibility of employers abusing work permits. He mentioned that workers in the service sector include cleaners, laundry workers, resort employees, spa workers, and cargo caddies, among others.
The Home Minister also highlighted that the service sector is at a high risk of non-compliance with regulations regarding worker accommodation, working hours, and salary payments. Employers are urged to adhere to these regulations, and relevant agencies will conduct on-ground investigations. Breaching the regulations could lead to court prosecution.
In addition, Saifuddin Nasution reminded employers in all sectors of the December 31 deadline for the recalibration exercise under the Labour Recalibration Programme (RTK 2.0). Following that, the next three months until March will be dedicated to the verification process.
The previous RTK 1.0, which took place from November 2020 to December 31, 2022, resulted in the registration of 418,649 undocumented migrants and involved 30,137 employers. The government had also previously announced a programme to ease regulations on the entry of foreign workers from January to March of this year.
