JOHOR BARU: The country's leading rubber glove makers have been urged to reduce their dependence on foreign labour and hire more Malaysians, given their need to expand the workforce to cope with increasing demand.

       “To cope with the demand for made-in-Malaysia rubber gloves, which is on an upward trend, the industry needs an additional 25,000 workers," said Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

       He said on that note, the time has come for the producers to reduce their dependence on foreign workers and give more opportunities to locals.

       He said most of these manufacturers had registered huge profits as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

       “They (the owners of these companies) are the country’s new billionaires and they are likely to enjoy windfall and huge profits in years to come," Mohamed Khaled said in a Facebook post.

       Mohamed Khaled said some of the manufacturers had even recorded the highest growth in their history, surpassing the growth registered by Petronas.

       He said for instance, for the financial year ended Aug 31 last year, Top Glove registered RM1.79bil net profit compared with RM0.3bil for 2019.

       He added that it registered RM7.87bil in net profit for the most recent financial year, an increase of almost 340% over the previous year.

       Other companies he highlighted were Hartalega Holdings Bhd and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, both of which recorded considerable increases in profit year-on-year.

       “All of us are aware that the majority of the production workers hired by the rubber glove manufacturers which recorded huge profits are foreigners," he added.

       Mohamed Khaled said according to statistics from the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma), there were 71,800 workers in the rubber glove manufacturing industry in Malaysia in 2019.

       He said of that number, only 39% or about 28,000 were Malaysians, while the remaining 61% or about 43,000 were foreigners.

       Mohamed Khaled said as the companies had made huge profits all this while, a small increase in operating cost by reducing foreign labour should not be a deterrent to them hiring locals.

       “It should be seen as a national agenda or national service in their efforts to reduce their dependence on foreign workers," he said.