According to the Immigration Department’s data, a total number of 154,155 expatriate passes were issued in the past year. This is the highest number of expatriate passes issued since 2018.
Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman, the president of the Malaysian Employers Federation said that employers frequently are forced to hire foreign professionals due to the mismatch in local skills and competencies of local individuals and certain jobs.
In sectors such as aerospace, manufacturing (food processing) and construction, there is a need for specific expertise in it. These sectors require expertise in emerging technologies like machine learning, automation and data analytics.
Malaysia has some tough competition from neighbouring countries when it comes to attracting skilled and experienced workers.
Employers in Malaysia have a hard time finding and keeping talented individuals in the aerospace industry. This leads to gaps in the workforce and difficulty in meeting the industry demands.
Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman, Mentioned
He mentioned that expatriates are usually brought in to manage important operations, train local employees and share their knowledge.
According to him, with more foreign investments, the expatriates play a vital role in preventing the loss of talented individuals by training Malaysians and providing career growth opportunities. He said they said that expatriates can help grow the economy by renting high-end properties.
“The weak ringgit enhances the purchasing power of expatriates who are paid in the country’s currencies of their home countries,” he said.
Besides contributing to direct and indirect taxes, their daily spending and consumption power will also help to support local products.
Dr Geoffrey William Economist Statement
According to Dr Geoffrey William Economist said, there is no shortage of local talent workers in the high-skilled workforce.
There is no lack of local talent in the local professional and skilled workers, but the issue is that there aren’t enough job opportunities for them. It’s a problem of job availability, not talent.
Dr Geoffrey William said that in Malaysia, there are around two million people who have qualifications higher than the jobs they are doing.
