The Malaysian government plans to introduce a new digital platform that would allow employers to hire foreign workers directly, bypassing private recruitment agents that have long dominated the system.
The initiative, disclosed by Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister, Datuk Seri Ramanan Ramakrishnan, is aimed at cutting recruitment costs, curbing worker exploitation, and improving transparency in the country’s foreign labour market.
The Malaysian Reserve first reported the development.
Malaysia relies heavily on foreign labour across key sectors such as construction, manufacturing, plantations, and services. However, the recruitment process has for years been mediated by agents and middlemen, a model that authorities now admit has created systemic problems.
What they are saying
According to the minister, foreign workers are often forced to pay exorbitant recruitment fees even before leaving their home countries.
- Many take out loans to cover these costs, leaving them trapped in debt from the moment they arrive in Malaysia. In some cases, workers reportedly end up in roles that differ significantly from what they were promised.
- Ramanan noted that concerns over recruitment abuses have been repeatedly raised in Parliament and by civil society groups, prompting the government to seek a decisive shift away from the agent-driven system.
Under the proposed platform, Malaysian employers would be able to connect directly with prospective foreign workers through a centralised digital system. Job descriptions, wages, and employment conditions would be clearly displayed and agreed upon before any contracts are signed, reducing the risk of misrepresentation.
Backstory
Malaysia’s move to introduce a direct hiring platform for foreign workers builds on earlier reforms aimed at simplifying and modernising its expatriate and migrant labour framework.
The proposal will be reviewed with the Home Ministry and other stakeholders before being submitted to the Cabinet. If approved and implemented later this year, the platform could mark a significant shift in Malaysia’s foreign labour policy, offering employers a clearer hiring process and workers lower costs, fewer surprises, and greater protection.
What you should know
This direct engagement model is expected to address a major weakness of the current system, where employers typically deal with agents rather than workers themselves, making it difficult to verify whether job terms have been properly communicated and accepted.
The government has expressed particular concern about the scale of recruitment fees currently being charged.
- Ramanan revealed that some workers pay between US$5,000 and US$8,000 to secure employment in Malaysia, levels that far exceed international guidelines. The International Labour Organisation recommends that recruitment fees should not be more than one month’s wages.
- Available reports suggest that Bangladeshi workers may pay between RM16,000 and RM25,000, while Nepali workers have reportedly paid up to RM10,000 for security-related jobs, raising red flags around debt bondage and illegal financial flows.
- To further improve transparency, the proposed platform will feature virtual interviews and AI-powered real-time translation, allowing employers and workers to communicate in their respective languages. Officials believe this will help reduce misunderstandings caused by language barriers, which are common in cross-border recruitment.
