: Malaysia's automotive manufacturing industry is facing an acute shortage of workers which could derail the national automotive manufacturing ecosystem if not resolved immediately.
He said the current cost for legalisation of illegal foreigners stands at RM4,500 per person, which is prohibitively expensive especially when the companies are struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns and also recent flash floods. “The current situation faced by the industry is that because vendors do not have enough workers and they cannot produce the parts, other vendors are being affected too, hence the production cannot move according to target,” he said.
Meanwhile, Perodua Suppliers Association president Musa Zahidin Ahmad Zaidee said the industry has been equipped with training facilities for the people especially for locals but unfortunately, many of them quit within a few months, leaving the vendors to face challenges in upskilling and increasing production to meet the demand.
“Even if 0.1 per cent of the suppliers could not operate, the whole line of a few thousand people cannot fix a car. This is the serious issue we are facing now,” he pointed out.