PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) called on the authorities to act swiftly to address the acute shortage of manpower across all sectors of the economy.
MEF president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said they were deeply concerned by the shortage of labour in general and the high impact it had on all the industries.
"Companies are losing billions of ringgit because of the delays, and as businesses we cannot understand the reason for this situation.
"There seems to be so many internal obstacles that businesses cannot comprehend.
"We hope the government will resolve all the issues without further delay," said Syed Hussain.
He added that MEF strongly supported the concerns articulated by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai.
"Employers need quick solutions.
"MEF has on many previous occasions proposed short-term measures through utilising UNHCR card holders, simplifying the procedures for recalibration of illegal immigrants and other sources of available labour to address these issues.
"But no proper response was obtained," said Syed Hussain.
He warned that MEF was very concerned that Malaysian industries might not be able to fully capitalise on the current high demand for its commodities, manufactured goods and services due to the difficult business environment arising from the shortage of workers, especially foreigners.
"Opportunities such as this do not come our way very often. We hope the government will take immediate action to resolve this matter.
"The manpower shortage especially the recruitment of new foreign workers must be addressed urgently.
"We will be pleased to share our views and raise our concerns with the government at the National Economic Council and hope that the government considers appointing MEF's representative to the council," he said.