Pandemic forces Malaysian palm industry to rethink reliance on foreign labour

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's palm oil producers are embarking on a rare recruitment drive to hire locals and accelerating industry mechanisation as they grapple with a severe shortage of foreign labour due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"This is the first time we are making such a big effort to hire Malaysians, but it is also the first time we are facing COVID-19," Imran, an estate manager with Sime Darby Plantation, told Reuters after interviewing potential applicants at a recruitment day near Kuala Lumpur. Countries like Indonesia and Bangladesh provide nearly 85% of plantation workers for palm companies such as Sime Darby, IOI Corp and United Plantations.

Despite a rising unemployment rate, Imran said most of the interest at the recruitment day was for general duties, such as driver or mechanic, rather than the taxing and crucial task of harvesting. Sime, the world's biggest palm oil company by land size, told Reuters it is quickening development and trials to deploy"light machines" that will aid in field upkeep, removing harvested crops and applying fertiliser.

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