KUALA LUMPUR (March 16): The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) believes that the intake of foreign workers in Malaysia would “easily” exceed one million people in 2023.
FMM president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai said the recruitment of foreign workers has improved from previous years, with the government’s implementation of the Foreign Worker Recruitment Relaxation Plan from Jan 17 to March 31.
Based on the FMM Business Conditions Survey for the second half of 2022, Soh said more than half (59%) of respondents answered that they would be able to meet their foreign worker needs and obtain their quota approval.
The 22nd edition of the survey, released on Thursday (March 16), was carried out from Jan 18 to Feb 28, with a total of 745 respondents nationwide.
“Only 8%, which is a small number, were not able to meet their foreign worker needs and obtain their quota approval,” Soh said at a press conference at Wisma FMM, adding that the other 33% had indicated “non-applicable”.
Among the 59%, most (40%) were subject to a long wait time to obtain their visa with reference (VDR) from the Immigration Department, he said, but there were also those (27%) who experienced a smooth and fast processing of their VDR.
“In terms of sourcing for workers at the source country, one-third of the respondents (33%) were able to do so easily , but 21% still faced difficulties,” Soh said.
Meanwhile, among the 8% who cannot meet their foreign worker needs, he said most attributed it to the slow approval process (16%) and lengthy process that included many conditions to be fulfilled (14%). Another 12% said the application is still in progress.
In addressing their skilled worker needs, Soh said more than half of the respondents faced difficulties in recruiting (68%) and retaining such workers (59%).
“While the former (recruiting) is due to shortage of supply and lack of the right skills set, the latter (retaining) is due to job-hopping, head-hunting by other employers and performance below expectations,” he said.
Amid the challenges faced, Soh said many respondents are willing to collaborate with education and skills training institutions to offer work-integrated learning programmes such as internships, apprenticeships, place and train schemes (34%), as well as curriculum development (29%).
Many are also willing to increase their investment on upskilling and re-skilling their existing staff (34%), he added.