Malaysia bans third-party recruiters for foreign workers

The Malaysian government has ruled that they will halt the outsourcing of foreign labour recruitment to third parties from 2019 onwards; a move which has received the support of the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).

The hiring of foreign workers will instead be handled by the HR Ministry’s private employment agency.

MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said the government’s decision will make the recruitment process “easier and quicker”. It

SME Association of Malaysia president Datuk Michael Kang also supported the move, stating that the removal of third party foreign recruitment firms will allow SMEs to gain greater control over the hiring process.

Most companies in Malaysia tend to rely on third party foreign recruitment firms.