Estate owners warn of losses ahead from ‘severe’ labour crunch

Foreign workers, mostly from Indonesia, typically make up about 80% of the workforce in Malaysian estates, which numbered about 437,000 at the start of the pandemic.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is missing a golden opportunity to capitalise on high palm oil prices and could suffer more production losses due to a “severe” shortage of about 120,000 workers, according to the Malaysian Estate Owners’ Association (MEOA).

The world’s second biggest palm oil producer has been struggling to harvest palm fruit due to a labour shortage exacerbated by its pandemic-related immigration restrictions.