The Malaysia government is taking steps to offload the foreign workers, but it will happen gradually rather than dramatically.

As the economy is yet to show any sign of recovery, the number of retrenchments involving both local and foreign is set to rise in the upcoming months.

In order to protect the welfare the locals, many quarters want the foreign workers to be laid off first. The Labor Department is even considering proposing a freeze on foreign recruitment to the Home Ministry to allow local Malaysians filling up the job vacancies.

But it won’t happen as easy as it sounds as many sectors in the country are relying on foreign labors. Such sectors include manufacturing, electronic, construction, services and retail. The fact that employers finding it easier to hire a batch of foreigners than locals make things appear more complex.

Additionally, to make the matter more complicated, many of the jobs willingly taken by the foreign workers have not generated adequate interest among the locals, who are rather being choosy about the type of work they will be assigned. While foreigners can accept menial jobs like cleaning and construction labor, the locals prefer ‘easy and more elite’ jobs such as office functions and administrative duty.

More than 30,000 workers in Malaysia lost their job in the year 2008. Over 5,000 were foreign workers.