KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Resources Ministry has approved a quota for the recruitment of 1,136,022 foreign workers from 2022 until the quota freeze on March 18 last year.

Of the total, 469,106 were for the manufacturing sector, followed by the construction sector (359,899); services (171,490); plantation (85,678); agriculture (49,473) and mining and quarrying (376).

“Starting Oct 10 last year, three sub-sectors of the service sector, namely hairdressing, textile workers, and goldsmiths for traditional Indian community businesses, were reopened with a quota limit of 7,500.

“Until Feb 26 this year, the ministry has approved a total of 219 quotas for the employment of foreign workers in these three sub-sectors, comprising 167 for hairdressers, 35 for textile workers, and 17 for goldsmiths,” the ministry said in a parliamentary reply to Datuk Seri M Saravanan (BN-Tapah).

Saravanan asked about the number of foreign workers recruitment that have been approved by the ministry from 2022 and 2023, as well as its breakdown according to sectors that have been permitted to hire foreign workers.