KUALA LUMPUR: The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has objected to any proposal to let foreign graduates work in Malaysia to address the shortage of skilled manpower.

       Its president Datuk Adnan Mat (pic) said the proposal not only negates opportunities for locals but also undermines the country's efforts to produce highly skilled local graduates.

       He said the policy of allowing foreign graduates to fill vacancies in the high-tech sector is a step backwards, and may result in local graduates receiving lower wages and increasing the unemployment rate in the future.

       "Various programmes have been introduced by local higher education institutions (HEIs), at considerable investment, to produce highly skilled graduates in line with the government's aspirations.

       "The country is currently on the right track in producing such graduates, and no longer needs to depend on foreign labour,” he said in a statement on Friday (Feb 2).

       It was reported recently that the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) was considering a proposal to let foreign graduates from local HEIs work in the country owing to the shortage of skilled manpower in several sectors, including electrical and electronics (E&E).

       Adnan also questioned some employers' willingness to pay high wages to foreigners when the quality of local candidates was better.

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       "Double standards over wages resulted in many Malaysians choosing to migrate,” he said.

       He also urged the government to enforce a more reasonable minimum wage for local highly skilled workers.

       He added that the data collected through the Central Database Hub (Padu) can be used to analyse the capacity of the country's energy resources and appropriate wage rates for Malaysians. – Bernama