PUTRAJAYA: The Human Resource Ministry (MoHR) has approved a quota for the recruitment of 541,315 foreign workers until Sept 26, of which 436,613 have paid their levy.
The ministry said taking into account the presence of 1.3 million foreign workers and the approved quota, the number had almost met the industry's demand for foreign labour.
It said the current demand for foreign workers in Malaysia was around 1.8 million, which was the highest ever reached.
In a statement today, MoHR said that there were 1.3 million vacancies in various sectors that were allowed to employ foreign workers, including the informal sector.
At the same time, more than 612,000 migrant workers had registered and passed the Safety and Health Assessment in their source countries, while 228,321 individuals or 37.3 per cent had received approval for Visa With Reference from the Immigration Department and were currently waiting to enter the country.
MoHR said a discussion had been held with the industry on recruiting foreign workers and was informed that industries, such as the plantation sector that had been given quota approval, would not bring in the foreign workers all at once.
"The recruitment will be carried out in stages according to the needs and plans of employers because they have a period of up to 18 months to bring in foreign workers after the levy payment is made," it added. Bernama