Malaysia rethinks hiring Pinoys, other migrants as crisis worsens – report

MANILA, Philippines - Malaysia is considering a temporary freeze on recruiting foreign workers, including Filipinos, to make room for retrenched Malaysians affected by the global economic crisis.

Online news site Bernama.com quoted Malaysia’s Director-General of Labor Datuk Ismail Abdul Rahim on Monday saying that the proposed freeze hiring would be an option to assist thousands of jobless Malaysians.

According to the report, 2.1-million migrants are working in Malaysia while 2,000 to 3,000 Malaysians are being laid off every month.

News that Malaysia may halt foreign labor hiring is not new, Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Victoriano Lecaros told GMANews.TV in a phone interview on Tuesday.

Lecaros said the global economic crisis may have caused retrenchments among Malaysians but Filipinos have yet to feel the brunt of this.

Between 27, 000 to 30,000 Filipinos are in Malaysia, said Lecaros. Out of this number, half are household service workers, while the rest are professionals, musicians and married to locals.

The Philippine official said they have yet to receive reports of factories closing down or massive retrenching of migrant workers, similar to Taiwan where 1, 263 Filipinos were laid off according to data from Manila’s de facto embassy there.

“And even if they did get laid off we won’t be severely affected because Malaysia isn’t even a top destination country," he added.

The Bernama report said that of the 28,000 Malaysians registered as jobless last month; only 6,000 had been able to find jobs through the Labor Department’s assistance.

The global economic crisis, which began with the loss of confidence in US stocks, has affected several European countries as well as Asian economies.

Heavily affected by the meltdown are export industries including factories that cater to the US market. Taiwan and South Korea employs thousands of migrant workers who work in various factories. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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