According to Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, some 179,451 applications to hire foreign workers in five sectors will be processed and approved with six weeks.
The Construction, agriculture, plantation, manufacturing and services are the five sectors indicated, he added.
The ministry has received a total of 519,937 applications to hire foreign workers since February 15 of which 50% or 290,939 applications have yet to be submitted by 2,578 employers who applied.
While a total of 40,000 applications were rejected for not meeting the requirements, were incomplete or applications to hire foreign workers in sectors that are still being frozen such as scrap metal, gold shops, clothing shops and barber shops, he was quoted as saying.
According to the minister, no applications were handled manually as all applications were online and without interventions from ministers.
On the issue of domestic helps, Saravanan said the government should discuss with Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to bring in domestic helpers from those countries.
Around 10,000 Indonesian domestic helpers would be brought into the country after Hari Raya Aidilfitri. The starting pay would be at RM1,200. However, it was up to the employers if they wished to pay the helps up to RM 1,500 per month following the implementation of the new minimum wage starting May 1.
Saravanan also said he would submit a request to the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin to reconsider the reopening of several sectors which were from foreign workers recruitment due to security factors.
“All foreign workers would be required to undergo induction courses before working in Malaysia to ensure that they were exposed to labour and workers’ rights to avoid being abused or oppressed by employers,” he said.
