Sep 7, 2016- Malaysia has decided to allow its firms to hire security guards from countries other than Nepal, ending a decade-long monopoly of Nepali migrants in the country’s private security industry.

 

The decision is likely to cause a further drop in job demand from Malaysia, which has seen significant cuts in other sectors of employment of late.

 

Malaysia employs an estimated 60,000 Nepali security guards, while the actual demand is at least double. Malaysian security firms were required to hire either the locals or Nepalis as security guards for the past decade.

 

According to Malaysian news portals, the decision followed a shortage of Nepali guards with a military background available for recruitment.

 

“We find it difficult to get guards from Nepal with military or police background these days. Due to the shortage, the government has agreed to allow firms to hire from two other countries besides Nepal,” the Star, a Malaysian newspaper, quoted Malaysian Deputy PM Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying.

The two other countries, however, have not been decided. Recruiting agencies in Nepal have predicted a further drop in job demand from Malaysia. The country hired only 60,979 Nepali workers in 2015-16, while it had employed around 202,828 Nepalis a year earlier.

 

But officials at the Department of Foreign Employment said the decision will not have much impact as only a few Nepalis with security backgrounds were going to work as guards in Malaysia because of high recruitment costs and low pay.

 

The number started to dwindle especially after Malaysia made it mandatory for Nepali security guards to undergo one-month paid training from sub-agents. It meant an additional burden of RM600 (Rs18,500) on workers who were already paying higher fees to recruiting agencies in Nepal.

 

Nepali jobseekers with security service background have been going to Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf countries due to better pays there.