PETALING JAYA: “Linking the placement of interns to the hiring of expatriates is tantamount to short-term thinking that could lead to (the country’s) self-destruction,” said the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) yesterday.
However, its president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said, MEF would support a policy in which multi-national companies (MNC) and major corporations hiring large numbers of expatriates establish programmes to help fresh local graduates gain industry experience.
He was commenting on the Human Resources Ministry’s Jan 15 statement that through Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad, it would implement a 1:3 Practical Training Policy that would benefit 100,000 local students.
Under the policy, every Expatriate Employment Pass approved via the Malaysia Expatriate Services Centre and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation must be linked to three paid and structured industrial training placements for local students.
The statement said participating companies would enjoy tax relief incentives under the National Structured Internship Programme.
The pilot phase of the policy would be from Feb 15 to Dec 31, with full implementation taking place on Jan 1, 2026.
Syed Hussain told theSun: “The reality is that expatriates do not need Malaysia but we need them due to the acceleration of artificial intelligence technology, the Internet of Things, digitalisation, and new ways of managing business operations and industrial processes.
“Malaysia needs to attract such experts and specialists in advanced technologies to give locals vital learning opportunities and working knowledge. However, by linking their employment with the hiring of interns, our decision-makers seem to have lost the plot.”
He said expatriates are usually hired on fixed-term contracts due to their specialised knowledge, skills and experience that are not available locally.
He added that most companies plan to eventually replace expatriate jobs as Malaysians assume those positions.
Syed Hussain also said expatriates come to Malaysia to establish, equip and prepare local organisations with the latest technological know-how to help the country progress into a high-income nation with advanced technology.
“They are not here because they have nothing better to do and we should appreciate their contributions. Linking their hiring to forcibly placing interns in companies would have devastating effects.
“For instance, companies and some industries that require specialised skills may face difficulties aligning internship roles with business needs, limiting the effectiveness of internship programmes.”
He said the expatriate-intern linkage would complicate the talent acquisition strategies of industries that require niche expertise while obligations to place interns alongside expatriates would restrict firms from hiring the best global talent if they are not able to accommodate interns.
The policy would also pose challenges for employers since having a higher number of interns would increase administrative workload, especially for micro, small and medium enterprises with limited human resource capacity.
Syed Hussain said if MNC and major investors in Malaysia do not see value in the expatriate-intern policy, the country would not progress and be denied much-needed technical know-how.
“The hiring of expatriates is critical for industries that need advanced technologies and instrumentation processes, so let us not limit the flow of investments in new technologies, knowledge, skills and experience available through expatriates by imposing additional employment conditions.”
He urged policymakers to be realistic and understand the situation well before issuing unilateral statements or making announcements.
“It is important to hold industry dialogues and discussions to seek our views before implementing new policies. As the devil is always in the details, the success of any policy lies in its execution.
“Issuing new policy statements without prior discussions with stakeholders or just to create work for government agencies is not the right way because businesses will eventually be forced to implement them to devastating effect.”
