Khairy: Our Youths Not Attracted To 3D Fields And Low Wages
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said a number of industries are unable to attract Malaysian youths as the wages offered are not high enough.
Khairy was referring to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s call to local youths on Sunday to take over the dirty, difficult and dangerous (3D) fields which were unpopular with local workers and needed foreigners to do the work.
Speaking to reporters after launching the “Fitness in My Pocket” application here yesterday, he said youths were not interested in industries such as construction or agriculture because these jobs were difficult and offer low wages.
“If the industry doesn’t rely on foreign workers, it will be impossible to fill up such jobs.
“Representatives from the industries have already discussed the issue and have issued statements that they have no choice but to continue to hire foreign workers,” he said.
Recently, the Government was reportedly planning to bring in 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers over a period of three to five years.
Meanwhile, Immigration director-general Datuk Sakib Kusmi said 271 had registered under the employment and resettlement programme for illegal immigrants which started on Monday.
“Out of the 271, 245 are Indonesians, eight are Myanmar nationals and 18 are other nationalities,” he said in a statement.
He said 31 applications had been processed, with 23 approved while eight had been rejected for not meeting the conditions.
Sakib said the programme to enable illegal immigrants already in the country to work for legal employers, was conducted online.
He said the department had been inundated with enquiries from the public and employers but the information on the programme was available through rehiring.imi.gov.my atau www.imi.gov.my.
News Source: The Star