Malaysia has right not to hire Pinoys, foreign workers - envoy

MANILA, Philippines - Malaysia’s decision to stop hiring foreign workers, including Filipinos, is just fair for an economy struggling to survive the global economic crisis, the Philippine envoy in Kuala Lumpur said Thursday. Ambassador Victoriano Lecaros told GMANews.TV in a phone interview that Malaysia’s move to freeze hiring of migrant workers was meant to make room for retrenched Malaysians affected by the economic crunch. “There is a slowdown in the economy and Malaysia is also affected, that’s why they are taking these steps," Lecaros said. The Malaysian government has ordered companies - particularly factories, stores and restaurants - to sacrifice foreign workers first should they think of trimming their work force. Emmanuel Leyco, who once worked in a credit rating agency, had earlier predicted that the US-led crisis would create a domino effect all over the globe and cause millions of OFWs to lose their jobs. “In a global recession, immigrants are the first to go," Leyco told GMANews.TV in an interview. Leyco said newly deployed Filipino workers would be hardest-hit by an economic meltdown because most businesses implement a “last in, first out" policy in their human resources management. He said foreign workers are also often seen as low-priority in employment retention. “When factories or offices are closing (not even) seniority (counts)," he said. As Asian economies begin feeling the brunt of dwindling demand for local goods of countries like the US amid a global recession, Ambassador Lecaros said migrant workers should be prepared for the repercussions of the crisis. “You cannot expect the private sector to have the same gung ho as they used to have," Lecaros said. There are close to 30,000 Filipinos working and living in Malaysia, two-thirds of which are married to nationals. Majority of the Filipinos employed in Malaysia are working as domestic workers. The rest are architects, IT professionals, and workers in electronic factories in Penang and Johore. More than 10,000 Malaysians and 3,000 foreigners lost their jobs between October and January because of a slowdown in Malaysia 's export-dependent economy, the Associated Press said in a report. Malaysia's government is projecting that 45,000 Malaysians would lose their jobs before 2010. The report said foreigners can still be hired in sectors such as plantations and construction, where it is tough to find Malaysians to employ because of the low salaries and arduous work. Recruitment consultant Manny Geslani said this could serve as a guarantee for Filipinos to remain employed in Malaysia. "Malaysians lack the skills in low-end jobs such as hotel workers, cleaning jobs and domestic work," Geslani added. Geslani also said that the ‘Malaylization’ of workers in the Southeast Asian country is fair but Filipino migrant workers have still very little to worry about. The global economic crisis, which began with the loss of confidence in US stocks, has affected several European countries as well as Asian economies. Heavily affected by the meltdown are export industries including factories that cater to the US market. Taiwan and South Korea employs thousands of migrant workers who work in various factories. -GMANews.TV