Foreign Workers in Malaysia - Centre for Global Sustainability

Foreign Workers in Malaysia
19 April 2016
Dr Suzyrman Sibly
Deputy Director
Pusat Kajian Kelestarian Global
Centre for Global Sustainability Studies
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Pekerja Asing di Malaysia
• Sektor Perladangan dan Pertanian - Sektor
utama
• Pertengahan 1980an - 1990an - Sektor
Perindustrian berkembang pesat
• Perpindahan tenaga buruh domestik dari
Sektor Perladangan dan Pertanian ke Sektor
Perindustrian
Pekerja Asing di Malaysia
• Kemasukan pekerja asing membantu sektor
perladangan
• Upah murah
• Meningkatkan “comparative advantage”
• Membantu mengekang inflasi
• Membantu mengekang kenaikan upah
Top 5 Countries to Which Remittances are
Sent from Malaysia
 Bangladesh
 Indonesia
 Nepal
 India
 Philippines
Source: Astro Awani (2013, November 11). Bangladeshi Workers in
Malaysia Send the Money Home. Astro Awani. Retrieved from
http://english.astroawani.com/malaysia-news/bangladeshiworkers-malaysia-send-most-money-home-25347
Negara Asal
2000
2005
2010
2015
Indonesia
603,453
1,211,584
792,809
835,965
Bangladesh
158,149
55,364
319,475
282,437
Thailand
2,335
5,751
17,209
13,547
Filipina
14,651
21,735
35,338
65,096
Pakistan
3,101
13,297
28,922
72,931
Myanmar
3,444
88,573
160,504
145,652
666
192,332
251,416
502,596
18,934
134,947
95,112
139,751
2,363
91,655
117,086
77,060
807,096
1,815,238
1,817,871
2,135,035
Nepal
India
Lain-lain
Jumlah
Sumber: Unit Perancang Ekonomi (2016)
Reasons for Recruiting Foreign Workers
(Source: Malaysian Employers Federation, 2014)
Criteria Adopted in Evaluating Potential Foreign Workers
(Source: Malaysian Employers Federation, 2014)
Factors that influence the employment of
foreign labour
Availability of foreign workforce
Education
Level
Working Hours
Wages
Working Environment
(Source: Built Environment Journal, 2012)
How Foreign Workers Come to Malaysia
Entry of foreign workers via two ways:
 Legal entry through legitimate foreign workers
agencies registered under the Malaysian
Immigration Department
 Illegal way that is through non-registered agencies
(Source: Global Journal of Human-Social Science: (F) Political Science,
2014)
Application Process Flow for Foreign Workers
(Source: Malaysian Employers Federation, 2014)
Model Ekonomi Baharu
Sustainability Model
Economy
Sustainable
Development
Social
Environment
Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi:
“We want to decrease the intake of foreign
workers but if we were to stop (their entry)
altogether at this point, it may jeopardise the
industry that highly depends on them”
(Utusan Malaysia, May 3, 2001; 4)
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad stated during a
meeting with former Indonesian Prime
Minister Megawati Sukarno in year 2002 in
Bali, that:
“most immigrants or foreign workers who live in
Malaysia are unemployed and are involved in
criminal activities. This situation has raised a
concern among the locals of Malaysia”
Problems of Employing Foreign Labours
• Productivity
• Communication
• Attitudes
• Safety Precautions
• Accommodations
(Source: Built Environment Journal, 2012)
Issues and Challenges
(Source: Malaysian Employers Federation, 2014)
(Source: The World Bank, East Asia Pacific Region, Human Development
Dept: Social Protection & Labor Unit, 2013)
Foreign Workers in Malaysia
• Loose policy on foreign workers
• Disturbs social stability ie. Disease,
Conflict & Crime - Public safety and
security and education
• Abusive practises in human rights by
private recruitment agencies
• Remittance outflow affects balance of
payments - pressure on the currency
• Political issue
Migrant Workers: Malaysia’s Invisible Workforce
• In an interview with Malaysian Digest, Malaysian
Employers Federation (MEF) executive director
Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan (pic) said there are
currently 2.8 to 2.9 million migrant workers in
Malaysia.
• Foreign labour, especially the blue-collar
workers, contributes quite significantly to the
national economy as they contribute about 10%11% to national economy.
Source: The Wei Soon. (2015, February 10). Migrant Workers: Malaysia’s
‘Invisible’ Workforce. Malaysian Digest. Retrieved from
http://www.malaysiandigest.com/features/541277%20migrant
workers-malaysia-s-invisible%20workforce.html
Lessons Learnt
• Foreign labor - temporary solution
• Capital intensive / Labour - saving technologies
with higher productivity
• Move away from low value added unskilled
labour intensive manufacturing to high value
added skill intensive operations
• high income with high productivity
• foreign labour is here to stay?