KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Barbers and goldsmiths in the country are among the sectors still experiencing a shortage of workers, said Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk R. Ramanan.
However, his ministry will not make any announcement on behalf of the Human Resources Ministry but would instead request an explanation from its minister Steven Sim Chee Keong on the issue.
“Of course, I have contacted Human Resources Ministry officers through our officials, and they have informed me there are still 5,000 (places) out of the quota announced which have still not been filled,” he said.
Ramanan was speaking at the Ponggal celebrations and the launch of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Programme (WES), organised by the Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Maicci) today, after it raised the matter.
In September last year, the Cabinet agreed to open a recruitment quota for 7,500 barbers, textile workers, and goldsmiths in the service subsector.
This follows Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement to reopen the recruitment of foreign workers for the three service subsectors which had previously been frozen since 2009.
Meanwhile, Ramanan also said WES, which represents women entrepreneurs from various business backgrounds, should not to miss out on participating in the programmes and initiatives implemented by the Enterpreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry (Kuskop), especially for women.
It includes Program Pemerkasaan Usahawan Wanita (Puan), Skim Pembiayaan Ikhtiar (SPI), UDA Bizznita, TEKUNNita, as well as the Successful Women Entrepreneurship Engagement Talent (Sweet).
— Bernama
