Malaysia plans to recruit 10,000 Sri Lankan workers

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Cabinet has agreed to recruit 10,000 workers from Sri Lanka after taking into account the state of the country which has been hit by an economic crisis, Malaysian Human Resources Minister M Saravanan said.

According to Minister for Human Resources Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, the Sri Lankan government had submitted an official request to supply manpower and applied for a quota of 10,000 workers, having taken into account the country's economic crisis. 

The Cabinet, at its meeting last Sept 14, agreed to hire foreign workers to help Sri Lanka which is facing its worst economic crisis, he said, urging Malaysian industry and employers to support the government's gesture by employing workers from Sri Lanka to fill vacancies in sectors allowed to hire foreign workers.

Minister Saravanan commented: "I urge the industry and employers to support the intention of the government by employing foreign workers from Sri Lanka to fill job vacancies in sectors that are allowed to hire foreign workers."

According to Saravanan, employers who have been given quota approval and have settled the levy payment should seize the opportunity.

As of last Sept 14, levy payments had been made for 416,634 applications for foreign workers, he said, adding that employers keen to hire foreign workers can contact the ministry's Migrant Worker Management Division ([email protected]) or the Peninsular Malaysia Labour Department ([email protected]) for more information.