He said that while the automotive industry has been affected by the policy, it is also a problem which is affecting other sectors which ministries are looking to overcome. He cited the government and Ministry of Human Resources to be looking at ways to manage the ratio of foreign worker intakes. He was speaking during his visit to Autokeen Sdn Bhd, the chassis part supplier for Proton and Perodua at their plant in Bukit Subang. He added that one of the common problems which the automotive companies are facing is that local manpower are less resilient to work in assembly plants and its lines. He said that if the problem persists for a while longer, the component parts industry would be badly affected and would worsen further which might result with loss of jobs for both the local and foreign workers respectively.
Abdul Rahman Ahmad, the Managing Director of Autokeen Sdn Bhd said that his company had problems finding local workers who are willing to work in the conditions of the assembly lines which involved a lot of metal stamping processes with noisy and hot working environments as well as sparks produced from welding and such. Hence, the company would need to employ foreign workers who are willing to endure such tasks which are those from India and Bangladesh. He said that “However, the government has restricted the foreign workers intake and companies have to pay a higher levy to bring them in”
The problem is, if Autokeen fails to deliver the parts to the principal companies in time, they would have to bear the cost of losses which would be very counterproductive.
