KUALA LUMPUR (April 1): The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) is urging the government to lift the ban on the intake of foreign workers as the industry is now facing an acute shortage of workers, which may jeopardise the export of gloves to the global market, and eventually risk the jobs of locals.

MARGMA, who noted that there are 106 manufacturing plants in Malaysia that produce about 120 billion pieces of medical gloves with an export value of RM13.1 billion last year, said the industry is expanding, with production expected to rise 15% to 138 billion pieces this year, and requires more workers. Malaysia is also the largest producer of rubber gloves in the world today.

"As the industry expands, it also requires more workers, and it is our fervent hope that our Government will consider holding back the freeze and allow the foreign workers to come in.

"The lack of workers is a matter of great urgency now and we look forward to the assistance of the Government to alleviate this acute problem faced by our members.

"We are duly worried of not [being] able to meet the world's demand for this very necessary medical protective device if the workers are not available. There is an element of humanity here as our medical gloves are a needed and necessary protective device in the healthcare sector," said MARGMA president Denis Low Jau Foo in a statement today.

He stressed that the situation would be critical if its members had to shut down some of their production lines.

"It may also affect (the) jobs of our own people as all the supervisory, administrative (and) marketing (staff), chemists, accountants and engineers are locals," it added.

The ban on foreign workers, announced on Feb 19, was touted as a measure to reduce reliance on foreign labour.

Low said MARGMA is "thankful" to the government for allowing returning workers to be replaced for continuity purposes, but said that there is a delay as new workers are required to undergo training before deployment.

"We hope that, during this time, a consistent and continuing flow of workers can be recruited to sustain a smooth operation. With less downtime, the industry can churn out more revenue for the nation as well.

"The medical glove industry is always expanding to meet global demand, and while we have continuity, we must also continuously expand to ensure that Malaysia remains the world's largest producer of medical and surgical gloves," he said.

He also noted that the government's support on the reinstatement of the reinvestment allowance has also spurred investment in the industry by manufacturers, especially in research and development, which has made the industry less reliant on workers.

"And we are slowly but surely going into full automation of our plants. In the past, we needed about 16 workers to produce a million pieces of medical gloves. Today, with automation, we only require about four people to produce the same amount," it added.