Malaysia in need of more household workers: POLO

MANILA – The Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Malaysia continues to process job orders for migrant workers despite the coronavirus restrictions imposed by the host country.

Labor Attaché Johnson Cañete said the most sought-after workers in the Southeast Asian nation are household service workers (HSWs).

“Filipino HSWs are in demand here. Employers are looking for a continuous supply of Filipinos as HSWs,” he said in a virtual forum on Friday.

Professionals or highly skilled workers such as engineers, software developers, pharmacists, geologists, and those other licensed professionals as well as semi-skilled workers like kitchen helpers, waiters, cooks, washers, gardeners, are also preferred there.

“Construction sector is also booming here in Malaysia, our laborers, helpers in the construction continue to be the prospects here. Agricultural, forestry, laborers are also in demand,” he added.

The POLO official also reported that they recently processed close to 800 job orders for business processing outsourcing (BPO) firms.

At the same time, Cañete reminded returning OFWs and newly-hired Filipino workers to obtain a Malaysian (MY) Entry document approved by the host country’s immigration authorities and contracts that have been verified by the POLO.

“Malaysian borders are closed but they allow workers with valid MY entry pass secured by their employers,” he added.

Meanwhile, the labor attaché said the vaccination rate in Malaysia is at 300,000 to 400,000 a day. The available vaccines are Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac.

As of Friday, Malaysia has logged 893,323 coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases with 12,541 new infections.

Movement restrictions have been in place in the capital Kuala Lumpur and neighboring Selangor due to a surge in Covid-19 cases caused by the Delta variant.

The POLO in Kuala Lumpur also covers three other countries — Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos.