The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malysia (ACCCIM) laud the Ministry of Human Resources (KESUMA)’s initiatives to streamline the application process of foreign workers employment under the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS).

We have been calling the Government to overhaul Malaysia’s foreign worker management system to improve efficiency and oversight to ease the shortage of foreign workers.

The transfer of a One-Stop Centre (OSC) function from the Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN) to KESUMA will reduce inter-agency inconsistencies, speed up decision- making process, and improve overall coordination in foreign workers management.

The streamlining of end-to-end foreign workers quota application process with the issuance of the Conditional Approval Letter can be obtained 14 days, subject to a complete application and compliance with the terms and criteria, will help companies reduce administrative burden, avoid costly application mistakes, and speed up hiring timelines.

The digital submission of all applications will be processed entirely online through the FWCMS with manual counter processing and walk-ins are discontinued is a positive move to enhance efficiency and transparency in foreign workers recruitment.

While the ACCCIM will obtain our members’ feedback regarding the FWCMS, we would like to highlight a number of issues related to the recruitment to make foreign worker management more pragmatic and reduce friction for businesses.

(I) MYFutureJob is a pre-requisite for foreign workers quota application.
Currently, only the plantation sector does not require to advertise on MYFutureJob portal before applying for foreign workers.

Such advertisement needs to be posted for at least 8 days and at least an interview (up to 30 days if without interview occurs) before quota being considered.

While we support the prioritizing of recruiting local workers, the agriculture and construction sectors can be given exemption from advertising on the MYFutureJob portal given the difficulties to hire local workers.

(II) The interview with Agensi Kawal Selia (AKS) like KPDN, CIDB, etc.
is scheduled once a week for an industry, and the location is usually in Putrajaya.

For ease of administrative burden, resource and time management, more manpower (interviewers) is needed, to expand interview availability across multiple days per week instead of a limited number of days, as well as to allow interviews to be conducted at different locations,

at least by region, e.g. northern, southern and eastern regions have designated interview locations.

(III) The simplification of checklist documents submission.
Eliminating hardcopy and original document resubmission during interviews simplifies the process once checklist documents are accepted online.

The Chamber stands ready to engage and work with the Ministry of Human Resource in ensuring a smooth implementation of sustainable and efficient foreign workers recruitment system.