MOHR to give "due attention" to hiring of foreign workers in Malaysia's used goods sub-sector

This is in light of manpower issues in the sub-sector, while a temporary freeze on the quota approval process for hiring foreign workers is in place across sectors.

Malaysia's Minister of Human Resources, V Sivakumar, has affirmed that the Human Resources Ministry (MOHR) will be giving due attention to the hiring of foreign workers in the used goods sub-sector, in light of manpower issues in the sub-sector.

This comes while the Government has, since 18 March 2023, paused the quota approval process for hiring foreign workers in all sectors, he said in a statement on Monday (3 July 2023). This step, he noted, was taken to ensure that the approval given to nearly 1.1mn foreign workers "can be used optimally to boost the country's economic growth without affecting opportunities for local workers."

According to Minister Sivakumar, the ministry had previously started the application process for the recruitment of foreign workers in the used goods sub-sector on 25 January this year, after taking into account the sector's needs.

Per a report by The Star on 19 March, citing Bernama, the decision to pause the quota approval process was made following the approval of 995,396 quotas across sectors as of 13 March. This postponement was also meant to give employers with approved quota the time to make plans for the immediate entry of their foreign workers, the report added. 

As quoted in the report, Minister Sivakumar urged all employers with approval to speed up the process of hiring during the period of postponement.

"The number of foreign workers coming in is still low compared to the number of quotas that have been approved by the ministry," he added.

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