Foreign Labor

The substantial growth of foreign unskilled labor has raised concerns of driving a low wage culture and a low purchasing power syndrome which has longer-term implications on GDP growth. Studies also show that foreign labor is positive on long-term economic growth only when the labor force is educated and skilled. When foreign labor is skilled, it complements local labor. When foreign labor is unskilled, it tends to substitute local labor. (Cheong, 2017)

The country’s largest employer and labor groups have urged the government to stop the outsourcing of foreign worker recruitment processes, which they say have pushed up costs and resulted in abuses.

Speaking to FMT, Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan and Malaysian Trades Union Congress secretary general J Solomon called for a return to government-to-government arrangements as practiced until the late 1990s. (Augustin, 2018)

We could introduce a new law to reduce the number of foreign workers and we could apply a limit for a certain amount of number of people that could enter our country in a year.

Every year must renew their working & staying permit, if failed to do that they will be a high penalty charge against the company responsible. The government should imply a new system for the foreign workers like sign an agreement with the opposition country to ensure that their people does not come to our country to destroy or cause damage to the environment. The company that hired the foreign workers need to ensure their workers really works during their working time and not eat snake during work, if they don’t work hard enough the company will have to fire them and send them back to their country.

We could increase the wages of the foreign workers to encourage them to work harder as their working permit is very expensive and they will have the motivation to work and gain more money and send to their family at their home country. As the number of foreign workers increases, the demand of food and other essentials goods are also increased and this will cause the farmers to unable to supply the food in time for the nation.

Meanwhile, the government should use the period prior to making employers responsible for levies, to formulate a more comprehensive policy and ecosystem which will incentivize employers to better leverage foreign labor to raise productivity. This move will be consistent with employers’ view that levies alone cannot promote automation. There needs to be a more comprehensive analysis of overall costs to employers.

The company responsible for the hiring of the foreign workers also should be aware of their health condition and their cleanliness once in a while. The company should provide a yearly medical checkup at the local government hospital to ensure their health is in tiptop condition so that they could work well and be healthy and satisfied with their work environment. They also should be allowance when their sick and they will visit the clinics nearby to have a checkup to get medicines for their sickness.

In addressing the problem of crime by illegal immigrants, the measures to be taken should not be detrimental to any party. We need to recognize that the services of foreign workers are needed to generate our economy. What can be done now is to restrict the entry of new immigrants, and at the same time ensure that existing illegal immigrants have legal status. If the rising crime rate is said to be linked to an influx of immigrants, other than to obstruct them in detention, a more drastic measure needs to be taken in the long term.