Some resort to recruiting runaway maids online

PETALING JAYA: Some Malaysians are resorting to recruiting runaway maids online, as travel restrictions cut off the supply of domestic helpers from foreign countries.

Airing the woes of Malaysians who are in desperate need of foreign maids, National Association of Human Resources Malaysia (Pusma) president Zarina Ismail said some were attempting to hire illegal ones on social media.

“You can see there are a lot of posts on social media nowadays where people are seeking to hire illegal maids on platforms talking about runaway maids.

“It has also become a new trend in this business where the illegal maids would run away from the previous employer and go to a new one who offers a higher salary, ” she said.

She said with the country’s border closed, working professionals, especially career women, were facing a hard time searching for domestic helpers.

She said the restriction had caused difficulties to employment agencies and working mothers as new foreign maids were not allowed to enter the country.

“There are about 2,000 maids who already have their Visa with Reference (VDR) and are ready to come to Malaysia and work.

“However, since our borders remain closed until further notice, all the maids are stuck in their respective countries, ” said Zarina.

“Since all the nurseries, kindergartens and schools are not allowed to operate, parents who are currently working from home face problems with their work productivity as a result of an unconducive surrounding.

“One of the employers who is waiting for her maid since last February is desperately in need of a maid.

“She said her work performance has decreased significantly and it was hard to focus when working at home as she still needs to take care of the household chores and her kids, ” Zarina said.

These problems are faced by many working mothers, especially the ones who live in urban areas.

Pusma, which represents 1,018 private employment agencies that are licensed under the Human Resources Ministry, said these agencies suffered huge losses since the movement control order was enforced.

“Since the waiting period is almost nine months now, the maids may feel that it’s too long for them to continue waiting, hence, they will start to withdraw the applications.

“Furthermore, employers will also withdraw their applications and request their deposit money to be returned, ” she said.

She suggests that the government should consider allowing maids to enter the country in batches.

“We fully understand that the government is concerned about the people’s well-being and health. That’s why we suggest bringing the maids here in batches.

“We really do hope that the government will give some consideration to this issue

and ease up the restrictions, ” she said, adding that most of the maids were from the Philippines and Indonesia.

During the press conference, she also said that Pusma lauded the formation of The National Employment Council (NEC) which will be chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

“We are more than ready to help the government in reducing the unemployment rate for youth and fresh graduates by 36%.

“Not only that, we also want to help women professionals, who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, to get back on track, ” she said.