PETALING JAYA: The decision to make it mandatory for employers to advertise job vacancies for foreign workers or expatriates on the government’s official portal is a good move, says the Social Security Organisation (Socso).
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Its chief executive Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed (pic) lauded the policy, given the country’s rising unemployment rate.
“During this challenging period, it is sensible that we prioritise locals in filling job vacancies before we open them to foreigners or expatriates.
“Malaysia has a large pool of local jobseekers in the country’s labour market that could fill the job openings, ” he said in a statement on Tuesday (Nov 3).
He said Socso currently has over 90,000 retrenched workers under the Employment Insurance System (EIS), while there are over 745,000 unemployed Malaysians who are outside the EIS scheme.
About 300,000 graduates, he added, will also be entering the labour market and who will have to compete with experienced workers in seeking jobs.
“Hence, it is very critical at this point of time to introduce policies for the betterment of Malaysians, especially the jobless individuals.
“While some may see this policy as a short-term strategy that may not be able to address unemployment, or that it may push investors away, Socso sees it as a positive transformation in the labour market.
“With this policy implementation, we believe that we can gather sufficient information about the industry requirements in order to provide input for the education system to prepare curriculums that are resilient for future work,” he said.
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Dr Azman said with the Hiring Incentive Programme under National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana), employers can send local talents who may not possess a particular skill set for the position for training – free of charge.
“Financial incentives are also provided for employers, ranging from RM800 to RM1,000 per employee for up to six months.
“There are plenty of good talents here in Malaysia who can certainly fill many of the vacancies that employers intend to offer to foreign workers or expatriates, ” he said, urging employers to give locals a chance.
However, he noted that should the employer have specific needs concerning their employees, they are allowed to hire foreign workers or expatriates, only after they fail to find suitable local candidates through job interviews.
“We recognise the need for diversity in the workplace or technology transfer by having expatriates in the country.
“In fact, for key posts such as those in Category 1 (skilled employees with monthly salary of RM10,000 and above), employers may apply for exemption from advertising the vacancies or conducting interviews for local candidates, ” he said.
On Nov 2, The Star front-paged an article about the government requiring job vacancies and its details, such as salaries, for foreign workers to be advertised on its official portal.
In the latest move, employers seeking to hire foreign workers and expatriates have to advertise over a fixed period of time on the national employment portal, MYFutureJobs. -THE STAR