Malaysia's Ministry of Human Resources on Saturday postponed the application and approval of foreign workers' quotas until further notice.    

The decision was made after the approval of almost 1 million employment quotas for foreign workers from various sectors, including manufacturing, construction, plantation, agriculture, and services.

Moreover, 109,500 aspiring workers have been given clearance from BMET until the mentioned period. The authorized recruiting agencies can now provide flights of more than a thousand workers every day. 

The postponement is to ensure that employers given quota approval can start making plans for the immediate entry of foreign workers.

The Malaysian HR Minister, V Sivakumar, stated that the number of foreign workers coming in is still low compared to the number of quotas approved by the ministry. Employers were urged to speed up the process of hiring workers during this period.

Malaysian employers have received approval from the government to hire 314,473 workers from Bangladesh as of March 5. The Bangladesh High Commission’s labor welfare wing in Malaysia has confirmed the approval of the demand letter for the recruitment of 200,199 workers up to March 1.

Bangladesh High Commissioner Md Golam Sarwar requested a joint working group (JWG) meeting with Malaysian Human Resource Minister V Shivakumar to ensure transparency in the recruitment process.

This postponement may have a significant impact on employers who are awaiting approval for foreign workers' quotas. However, the situation will not affect Bangladeshi workers who have already been cleared by BMET, and recruiting agencies can continue to provide flights to Malaysia as per the authorized quota.

The Malaysian government's decision to postpone the application and approval of foreign workers' quotas until further notice may help to streamline the recruitment process and ensure that employers receive a sufficient number of workers.