Malaysia's rubber glove industry calls on the government to bring in foreign workers

According to foreign media reports on September 28, the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) on Tuesday called on the government to allow foreign workers to enter the country to meet the growing demand this year and next, citing a severe shortage of 25,000 workers since 2019
.


Supramaniam Shanmugam, president of MARGMA, said in a statement that the company urgently needs more workers and the company is ready to fulfill the terms and requirements of the recruitment process, including procedures related to COVID-19
.
We have production capacity, but we do not have enough workers to take full advantage of.
The local recruitment rate is far below the demand target of 10,000 workers
.


Malaysia’s manufacturing industry, like the palm oil industry, relies heavily on immigrant labor who has been unable to enter the country since the beginning of the pandemic
.
Since last year, palm oil companies have been urging the government here to allow foreign workers to return
.
The government announced this month that it specifically approved the introduction of 32,000 foreign workers for the plantation industry
.


MARGMA also stated that Malaysian rubber glove manufacturers are facing "stiff competition" from China, so they need to maintain production capacity to meet orders
.


Malaysia supplies about two-thirds of the world's rubber gloves consumption
.


The association stated that due to automation, the industry has been able to maintain a scale of approximately 72,000 employees since 2013, while the number of gloves produced and exported has increased by 10-15% every year
.