PETALING JAYA: The multi-tiered levy to reduce hiring of foreign workers can be realised only if locals are offered higher wages, say industry players.
National Association of Human Resources Malaysia (Pusma) president Zarina Ismail said that while the move is welcomed, the government must provide more initiatives to encourage employers to hire local talent.
“Employers must prepare themselves; they can’t rely solely on foreign labour,” she said.
And on the part of the government, she said it should offer more initiatives to encourage employers to employ Malaysians.
“If the employers could offer benefits to foreign workers in terms of lodging and transportation near their workplaces, why can’t they offer the same to the locals?” she said when contacted.
Zarina was of the view that the proposal would mean that Malaysia should seriously commit to automation in some sectors.
“It is time that we adopted automation. Moreover, we’re already on track to train our local talent through TVET courses, making them skilful and being able to operate machinery,” she added.
Asked if the multi-tiered levy should be implemented in certain sectors only, she disagreed, saying that this could lead to a loophole in which some employers would take advantage of it.
“Even now when the government has relaxed some restrictions on hiring foreign labour, some employers have already taken advantage of this by requesting for bigger quotas.
“Subsequently, they couldn’t offer the foreigners with jobs, leaving them stranded in the country for months, impacting their well-being.
“We need to be fair. The move should be implemented across all sectors. If employers hire more foreigners, they need to pay more levies. That will be fair,” Zarina said.
