How much longer do we need to depend on foreign labour?
It has been over 20 months since the Covid-19 pandemic started and now, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief as businesses can operate once more.
Complying with the standard operation procedure (SOP) guidelines is not much of a problem as employers face a much more bigger issue - sourcing for foreign workers.
Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan recently said over 32,000 foreign workers arrived here for the plantation sector following Malaysia's decision to reopen borders to address the labour crunch. The process is expected to be completed by end of the month.
We can't deny that the country still requires the service of foreign labour especially in the construction and plantation sectors but also very much felt in other sectors as well.
The hotel industry, among others, received the greatest blow due to the pandemic as many five-star and budget hotels had to close down due to the pandemic.
Many of their foreign workers too had gone back to their to their hometowns and looked for other jobs to sustain themselves.
This led to hotel associations seeking for the government to loosen restrictions for them to hire foreign labourers.
Since hotel operations began full swing, many hotel owners expressed their difficulty in hiring locals due to several reasons including low-salary and overqualified for the job.
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many Malaysians to lose their jobs and despite the business sector is slowly recovering, many are still picky about work opportunities.
The questions remains, how much longer do we need depend on the foreign workforce?
