KUALA LUMPUR: The Small and Medium Enterprise Association (Samenta) has thrown its weight behind a proposal to allow foreign graduates to work here to address talent shortage issues, particularly in fields like engineering and technical areas.
Last week, Investment, Trade and Industries Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the government is considering allowing foreign graduates to work here as a short-term solution to talent shortage in certain fields.
Samenta estimates that Penang alone is short of 50,000 engineers and technicians, a situation which has limited growth in the semiconductor, manufacturing, and logistics industries.
The problem is especially severe among SMEs, who have to compete with multi-nationals (MNCs) for these talents.
According to Samenta, allowing graduating foreign students to work not only will eases the talent crunch, but also allow Malaysia to retain talent that has been trained here.
It estimates that the count of foreign students pursuing engineering and technical studies is below 20,000.
"Even with a scenario where a quarter of them graduate annually, and 10 per cent opt to stay and work, the result would be fewer than 700 engineers and technicians that the industry can accommodate."It is preposterous therefore to say that this will disrupt job opportunities for locals."On the contrary, having this immediate pool of additional talents will help convince foreign and domestic investors to stay and expand their operations – in turn enlarging the economic and employment pie for Malaysians," Samenta national president, Datuk William Ng, said.
He added that the popular misconception that SMEs are not paying enough for local workers is not true.
"Some SMEs are paying between RM 4,000 and RM5,000 for fresh engineering graduates. However, these graduates either prefer to work for MNCs or are demanding preferred work conditions that many SMEs cannot deliver," he said.
Ng said if the cabinet approves this long-standing call by the industry to allow post-graduation employment for foreign students in economically critical sectors and job specialisations, Malaysia will join the ranks of advanced economies such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United Kingdom in allowing graduating foreign students to work and contribute to their economies.
"These post-graduation employment visas are typically short-termed, non-renewable and are specific to identified industries and jobs, so the fear that allowing them will distort the job market or displace local talents is unfounded," said Ng.