KUALA LUMPUR: The government could introduce a multi-tier levy on businesses applying for foreign workers to discourage' dependence on them, as early as this year.

Human Resources Minister Steven Sim said proceeds from the levy will go towards supporting the upscaling of small and medium enterprises' local workers.

He said while the formula is currently under works, one mechanism could be to impose lower levies on businesses that require a lower number of migrant workers, and higher levies for those who need more.

Sim added that once a formula is finalised, it will be presented to the cabinet for approval.

At a media gathering here, he said the initiative is to incentivise companies to reduce dependency on migrant workers in line with the country's goal of capping the migrant worker population to 2.5 million, or 15 per cent, of the working population.

Sim said currently the country has about 2.2 million migrant workers with approvals for new foreign workers quotas frozen.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/economy/2024/05/1048286/government-could-introduce-multi-tier-levy-discourage-dependence