KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA has banned the hiring of new foreign workers in the manufacturing and services sectors amid fears the economic crisis will lead to more job losses for locals.
The government has also ordered companies to lay off foreign employees first if they must slash their work force, a Human Resources Ministry official said.
Home minister Syed Hamid Albar told the New Straits Times there was no reason to bring in foreigners after a human resources ministry report showed
45,000 people would be laid off over Lunar New Year at the end of the month.
'This is not the time for employers to ask for foreign workers. The first to be retrenched should be foreigners and not locals,' Mr Syed Hamid told the paper. 'There is no valid reason to bring in foreign workers at this time,' he added.
The government is preparing a second economic stimulus package following a US$2 billion (S$3 billion) unveiled last November to help companies and workers who have lost their jobs as a result of the global economic downturn.
The one million foreign workers currently in the two sectors will be allowed to work until their permits expire or they are laid off, according to the Star daily.
Malaysia - one of one of Asia's largest importers of labour - has an estimated 2.2 million foreign workers, who are the mainstay of the plantation and manufacturing sectors.
However, the government has become concerned about the ramifications of Foreigners currently working in both sectors can continue until their contracts expire or until they are laid off, but no new non-Malaysian workers will be approved, the official said.
'We want to make sure that all locals who have been (laid off) can get a new job,' said the official.
He added that exemptions may be given to skilled foreign workers who are needed for some of country's service industries and factories, most of which produce electronic and electrical goods, textiles and furniture.
More than 10,000 Malaysians and 3,000 foreigners lost their jobs between October and January because of a slowdown in Malaysia's export-dependent economy. The government has predicted another 45,000 Malaysians could be out of work by the end of the year.
Foreigners can still be hired in sectors such as plantations and construction, where it is tough to find Malaysians to employ because of the low salaries and arduous work, the official said.
Eka Suripto, an official at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, said Indonesia expects one-third of its 300,000 nationals working in Malaysia's manufacturing industry to lose their jobs this year.
'Certainly what they will sacrifice first are the foreign migrants,' he said.
Adding to the number of legal foreign workers, there are an estimated 1 million illegal migrants employed mainly at plantations, construction sites and restaurants. Most come from poorer Asian nations such as Indonesia and the Philippines.
Malaysia's government has struggled to assure the public that the country won't slip into recession. Authorities have forecast that Malaysia's economy will expand by 3.5 percent in 2009, but some economists have warned that growth could fall below 2 percent. -- AP, AFP
The government has also ordered companies to lay off foreign employees first if they must slash their work force, a Human Resources Ministry official said.
Home minister Syed Hamid Albar told the New Straits Times there was no reason to bring in foreigners after a human resources ministry report showed
45,000 people would be laid off over Lunar New Year at the end of the month.
'This is not the time for employers to ask for foreign workers. The first to be retrenched should be foreigners and not locals,' Mr Syed Hamid told the paper. 'There is no valid reason to bring in foreign workers at this time,' he added.
The government is preparing a second economic stimulus package following a US$2 billion (S$3 billion) unveiled last November to help companies and workers who have lost their jobs as a result of the global economic downturn.
The one million foreign workers currently in the two sectors will be allowed to work until their permits expire or they are laid off, according to the Star daily.
Malaysia - one of one of Asia's largest importers of labour - has an estimated 2.2 million foreign workers, who are the mainstay of the plantation and manufacturing sectors.
However, the government has become concerned about the ramifications of Foreigners currently working in both sectors can continue until their contracts expire or until they are laid off, but no new non-Malaysian workers will be approved, the official said.
'We want to make sure that all locals who have been (laid off) can get a new job,' said the official.
He added that exemptions may be given to skilled foreign workers who are needed for some of country's service industries and factories, most of which produce electronic and electrical goods, textiles and furniture.
More than 10,000 Malaysians and 3,000 foreigners lost their jobs between October and January because of a slowdown in Malaysia's export-dependent economy. The government has predicted another 45,000 Malaysians could be out of work by the end of the year.
Foreigners can still be hired in sectors such as plantations and construction, where it is tough to find Malaysians to employ because of the low salaries and arduous work, the official said.
Eka Suripto, an official at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, said Indonesia expects one-third of its 300,000 nationals working in Malaysia's manufacturing industry to lose their jobs this year.
'Certainly what they will sacrifice first are the foreign migrants,' he said.
Adding to the number of legal foreign workers, there are an estimated 1 million illegal migrants employed mainly at plantations, construction sites and restaurants. Most come from poorer Asian nations such as Indonesia and the Philippines.
Malaysia's government has struggled to assure the public that the country won't slip into recession. Authorities have forecast that Malaysia's economy will expand by 3.5 percent in 2009, but some economists have warned that growth could fall below 2 percent. -- AP, AFP
