Indonesia workers losing out

Indonesia workers losing out

V.K. Chin, The Star, Asia News Network, Selangor, Malaysia

It is impressive that an agreement to recruit 100,000
Pakistanis to meet the shortage of workers in several sectors
should be signed so soon. This shows that there are other
governments which are prepared to offer their citizens to help
Malaysia.

Since the labor woes are serious in several key sectors, it is
important that the administrative and physical process to handle
such a huge number of workers should be speeded up as the
plantation, construction and manufacturing sectors are facing a
production crisis due to the lack of workers.

This may not be as simple as it appears at first glance as
much work will have to be done to match the workers and their
prospective employers, who must put forward their needs urgently.

As the government is not sure of the exact requirements of the
employers in the different sectors, some flexibility has been
shown in the agreement. For example, the Pakistanis can work in
all the sectors requiring labor thus making it easier for
employers to recruit them.

Both the Home and Human Resources Ministries will need to work
closely to hasten the recruitment process so that the employers
concerned can continue with their operations without undue delay.

The government has to take quick action to fill up the
vacancies since it has found great difficulty in getting the
Indonesians who returned home during the amnesty period to come
back as legal workers.

The government and the employers cannot wait indefinitely for
the return of these workers who are mainly engaged in the
construction, plantation and agriculture sectors, whose
production has been seriously affected by the labor shortage.

It will mean that Indonesians will lose out in these sectors
where they used to make up the majority of the workers. This will
be serious food for thought for the Indonesian government and it
will have a significant impact on their economy and employment
situation as well.

This is the price the Indonesian side will have to pay for its
red tape and the greed of some of its people to make some quick
money out of the whole exercise.

It shows that they are no longer the only player and that they
have tested Malaysia's patience even though Kuala Lumpur would
like to give priority to Indonesian workers to help them out.

But since they have spurned this good intention, they have
lost out in the race for the time being. Hopefully this latest
development will spur the Indonesian government to act quickly in
allowing their nationals to return to Malaysia as quickly as
possible.

The door is still being held open for them as Home Affairs
Minister Azmi Khalid has said the government would not be seeking
workers from other countries for the time being.

But if Indonesian officials still think that they hold the
trump card, then Malaysia will have no choice but to look for
workers from other countries to fill the labor void.