MEF welcomes trade minister’s call for direct foreign worker recruitment

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) welcomed today Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan’s recent remark for employers to bypass recruiting agents and hire foreign workers directly.

Its executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan added that the second international trade and industry minister’s call echoed what MEF has been pushing for, adding that their proposals took into account the welfare of both the prospective employer and their workers.

"Of course we welcome this. We have always been saying that third-party involvement is creating a lot of problem for employers and the would-be workers and they don't even add value to the whole recruitment process," he told Malay Mail Online when contacted today.

Shamsuddin said that the hiring of foreign workers should be made purely a government-to-government engagement as such an arrangement would guarantee a much affordable price for employers to hire foreign workers.

"For example, when you talk about bringing an Indonesian worker, the cost can be around RM7,000 to RM8,000 but if it's a government-to-government arrangement, it should be between RM2,000 and RM3,000 only.

"We have always said that agents should not be given the role to bring workers in because it is just adding to cost. They just want to make quick money," he added.

Shamsuddin was responding to Ong's statement two days ago, urging Malaysia to do away with the agent-based foreign workers recruitment system, which he said, contributed to the problem of illegal workers and immigrants.

Ong said that instead of allowing agents to bring in foreigners, employers should be allowed to directly recruit workers.

“The current problem exists because many third parties brought foreigners into Malaysia with the promise of employment and left them to fend for themselves.

“The recruitment agents brought in workers without understanding the needs of the local industries such as services, manufacturing and commodities. This caused not only problems to foreigners but also the industries.  

“Agents are not industry players. Foreigners are placed in sectors where there are no immediate shortages. The agents would stop looking after or supervising the workers they had brought in and problems like documentation would occur," he said.